Getting a random key from a dictionary table?
I'm attempting to solve one of my previous queries and in order to have a breakthrough all I need to know is if it's possible to search through an entire table and store a random key within a variable while ignoring it's number values.
For example using this table I would like to randomly output one of the dictionary names such as Apples or Cabbages (quotations if possible) but NOT its number values.
Is this possible with tables or should I use a seperate modified table or array?
ExampleTable = {
["Apples"] = 0,
["Berries"] = 32,
["Cabbages"] = 5,
["Daikons"] = 89,
["Eggs"] = 9
}
RandomKeySelector =
print("The random food item is",RandomKeySelector)
2 answers
For get a Random key from dictionary table you need to create a array table with index of all elements of your dictionary table, For example:
local dictionary = {
["Eggs"] = 10,
["Apples"] = 50
}
local function GenerateRandom()
--> You need to create a fake array table.
local Array = {}
for index in pairs(dictionary) do
table.insert(Array, index) --> Insert the index to array table
end
--> After that only get the random number from array table.
local RandomNumber = math.random(1, #Array) --> Will get a random number of array
return Array[RandomNumber], dictionary[Array[RandomNumber]] --> Return the name and value after that
end
local Name, Value = GenerateRandom()
print(Name, Value)
Basically, i created a fake array table, added the index of the dictionary table, after that i generated the random value.
Fixed script:
local ExampleTable = {
["Apples"] = 0,
["Berries"] = 32,
["Cabbages"] = 5,
["Daikons"] = 89,
["Eggs"] = 9
}
local function GenerateRandomIndex()
local Array = {}
for index in pairs(ExampleTable) do
table.insert(Array, index)
end
local RandomNumber = math.random(1, #Array)
return Array[RandomNumber], ExampleTable[Array[RandomNumber]]
end
local ObjName, ObjValue = GenerateRandomIndex()
print("The random food item is", ObjName, "The value is", ObjValue)
Hope it helped!
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You want to use math.random(). Set the first argument to 1 and the next to #ExampleTable. The hashtag means it will get the length. If there were 5 items in the table, it would be 1, 5.
But from my understanding of tables like this in the past, I had to put another table inside of the table because you can't get the name if the key has brackets around it.
ExampleTable = {
{Name="Apples",Number=0},
{Name="Barries",Number=32},
{Name="Cabbages",Number=5},
{Name="Diakons",Number=89},
{Name="Eggs",Number=9}
}
print(#ExampleTable)
local numberPosition = math.random(1, #ExampleTable)
RandomKeySelector = ExampleTable[numberPosition].Name
print("The random food item is ",RandomKeySelector)
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