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Dan wrote:

On 2/15/06, Raul A. Jager W. <raul@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
SELECT rand(), field1, field2,...,fieldn from MY/FILE
   ORDER BY rand()
Read the first 2000 (they will be randomly ordered)

If you need aproximately 2000, you can use a "WHERE rand() < 0.02" and
order by one of your fields


Very nice.  In my test of this, I didn't see the RAND() in the Select and I
used:
   Select * from dblib1/cumas
     where ORPD > 20050101 and ORPD < 20050731
     order by RAND()
This gave what appeared to be a random list (the file is, physically, in
ORPD [Post Date] order).  Can I trust this?  Or should I specify RAND() in
the Select clause?  ("Select *, RAND() from..." won't work.)

Thanks!
Dan

The list will be in random order, but it will include all records entered between 20050101 and 20050731. Using rand() in the select will cause SQL to include randomly selected records from the whole file.

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