This question already has an answer here:
I have this script that generates random promo codes.
}
$length = 10;
$characters = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTUVWXYZ';
$charactersLength = strlen($characters);
$event = $request->event;
$prefix = $request->prefix;
$quantity = $request->quantity;
$randomString = '';
for ($x = 0; $x <= $quantity; $x++) {
for ($i = 0; $i < $length; $i++) {
$randomString .= $characters[rand(0, $charactersLength - 1)];
}
$pin = "$prefix"."$randomString";
$exists = Pin::where('pin', $pin)->first();
if(!$exists){
$new['pin'] = $pin;
$new['event'] = $event;
$new['user'] = '';
Pin::create($new);
}
$randomString = '';
}
It works but needs to be optimized as it can take forever to execute when the $quantity gets above a couple thousand.
I suspect the time hog is the bit that is looking if the pin exists. I am sure there must be a more efficient way to ensure the random strings are unique.
Thoughts? Thanks!
****** As pointed out random hash generation has been addressed here ******
Perhaps a part 2 to this question then...
Client has requested a set selection of chars for the random codes - '123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTUVWXYZ'. Is there a way to limit the chars output by md5 hash?
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A much simpler way:
$randomString = sha1(rand(0, 2000));