Formatting randomised data

Manawydan has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi,

I want to create a random figure between 1 and 9999, but if it's under 4 chars long, I want it to add preceeding zeros (e.g. 0039).

I tried :

$conduit_random = ("%04d",int(rand(9999)));

and although it doesn't give an error it doesn't work either! :(

Is it possible to do it this way or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Cheers!

Comment on Formatting randomised data Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Formatting randomised data by davidrw (Prior) on Jun 19, 2005 at 19:39 UTC
Very close -- I think you meant: `$conduit_random = sprintf("%04d",int(rand(9999)));` What you had was the equivalent of just `$conduit_random = int(rand(9999));` For reference, compare these: `perl -le '$x = (1,2); print $x'; # prints 2 perl -le '($x) = (1,2); print $x'; # prints 1` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Formatting randomised data by thundergnat (Deacon) on Jun 19, 2005 at 19:40 UTC
Very close. You need to add sprintf. `$conduit_random = sprintf("%04d",int(rand(9999)));` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Formatting randomised data by merlyn (Sage) on Jun 19, 2005 at 20:14 UTC
You can leave out the "int" if you already have "%d", because that "int"'s it: `my $random = sprintf "%04d", rand 10000;` [download] And yes, you're off by one if you use 9999, because you'd never have 9999. {grin} -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Formatting randomised data by tlm (Prior) on Jun 19, 2005 at 20:38 UTC
`my $random = sprintf "%04d", 1 + rand 9999` [download] per spec :) the lowliest monk	[reply] [d/l]
A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.
Re: Formatting randomised data by Manawydan (Initiate) on Jun 19, 2005 at 20:59 UTC
Thanks for all the speedy replies and the help! I thought that I could only use sprintf when displaying/exporting the data - didn't realise that I could use it in this way. Thanks again! :)	[reply]
Re^2: Formatting randomised data by bart (Canon) on Jun 19, 2005 at 22:16 UTC
I thought that I could only use sprintf when displaying/exporting the data No, that must be printf you're thinking of. printf actually prints the resulting data (except that it ignores $\), while sprintf just returns the value, ready to store into a variable, for example.	[reply]
Re: Formatting randomised data by ambrus (Abbot) on Jun 20, 2005 at 09:18 UTC
`$conduit_random = sprintf("%04d", 1 + int(rand(9999)));` [download] You need the `1 +`, as you won't get `9999` otherwise.	[reply] [d/l] [select]