An example function  generates 24hr time string:

function generateRandomTime():String {
            var hour:uint = Math.floor(Math.random()*24); // creates a random number 0 - 23
            var minute:uint = hour == 12 ? Math.floor(Math.random()*59) + 1 : Math.floor(Math.random()*60); // creates a random number 0 - 59, if the hour is 12 the number range is 1 - 59 (so that you don't get 12:00)
            return hour + ":" + (minute < 10 ? "0" : "") + minute; // retun the result string
}
 
trace(generateRandomTime());

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

No but you would get times such as 24:59. The code above generates a time between 0:00 - 23:59. What range do you want to generate?

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

is there a way to make it not repeat itself,

 

lets say i run the code and i get 22:13

 

then i run again and get 22:13

Flash (or computer in general for that matter) Math.random() cannot really generate a random number but only a pseudo-random number. That said it's interesting it generates exactly the same outcome consecutively. If I do:

for(var i:uint = 0; i < 10; i++){
   trace(generateRandomTime());
}

I get:

23:59
13:11
1:56
1:37
23:55
15:36
3:30
7:32
10:06
1:53

So it's pretty random.

is there a way to say if its the same, randomise again??

Yes - but I don't like doing that, because in theory the function could run forever.

If you want to make sure you never  get the same time value, one way is to store all the time values in an Array, then randomise it, then pop one by one:

// create an Array with numbers 0:00 - 23:59 in minutes, then randomise it
function generateRandomTimeList():Array { 
   var array:Array = new Array();
   for(var i:uint = 0, end:uint = 60*24 - 1; i < end; i++){
      array.push(i);
   }
   return FisherYates(array);
}
 
// Array randomising algorithm        
function FisherYates(a:Array):Array { 
   var b:Array = new Array(a.length);
   b[0] = a[0];
   for(var i:uint = 1, n:uint = a.length; i < n; i++){
      var j:uint = Math.round(Math.random()*i);
         b[i] = b[j];
         b[j] = a[i];
      }
   return b;
}
 
// convert number to time formatted string   
function timeFormat(n:uint):String { 
   var hour:uint = Math.floor(n/60);
   var minute:uint = n - hour*60;
   return hour + ":" + (minute < 10 ? "0" : "") + minute;
}
 
// trace 10 random time
var randomTimeList:Array = generateRandomTimeList();
for(var i:uint = 0; i < 10; i++){
    trace(timeFormat(randomTimeList[i]));
}

Trace

11:24
23:01
9:04
10:55
13:17
9:28
16:06
8:41
7:26
21:05

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

randomtime should be a variable

mytime_txt.text == randomtime // true or false

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

one problem though is it is displaying 24:00 as 00

where can i add the +1 so that it goes from 1 to 24

In essence you want 0:01 to 24:00, not 0:00 to 23:59, right? If so you can modify the initial array population:

for(var i:uint = 1, end:uint = 60*24; i < end; i++){

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

Then simply substitute 0 with 24

return (hour == 0 ? 24 : hour) + ":" + (minute < 10 ? "0" : "") + minute;

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

Just for the fun of it, here is a one-line approach to generate random hours and minutes (including 24th hour replacement) - makes code much more abbreviated with no conditionals:

for (var i:int = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
    trace(new Date(1500000000000 * Math.random()).toString().match(/(?<=\d\s)\d+\:\d+/g)[0].replace(/^00/, "24").replace(/^0/, ""));
}

@Andrei

I thought about using Date object too first. But (1) shouldn't it be 1000*60*60*24 = 86400000 rather than 1500000000000 you have? (2) fonzio wants no duplication therefore you should create an Array of all the permutations first then randomise it. An Array of 86,400,000 Date objects is obviously too much but 60*24 = 1,440 Date objects would do.

--

Kenneth Kawamoto

htp://www.materiaprima.co.uk/

"shouldn't it be 1000*60*60*24 = 86400000 rather than 1500000000000 you have?"

It doesn't matter because time is expressed in milliseconds. Both values will do. I feel greater value leads to more random results.

"(2) fonzio wants no duplication therefore you should create an Array of all the permutations first then randomise it."

Randomizing milliseconds eliminates the need for array randomization. Granted, filtering out duplicates should be a separate task.

I disagree although a little bias may be present. on a very large number it is negligible. As for the number manipulation vs performance - there is no difference so I would deal with as large number as possible. Multiples of 86400000 would help a little of course. So, one can use 1499990400000 instead of 1500000000000. By the way, the difference between these two number is only 0.0006399999999961992% - negligible.

"You are not eliminating duplication possibilities, which is the reason for Array randomisation."

Did I say I was eliminating duplicates?

Array randomization does not eliminate duplicates per se. So, additional Array randomization is an overkill.