basically, i need some code that will randomly generate alphanumeric charachters

it will be at least 4 charachters long and a maximum or 15 charachters long.

then assign it to a variable like $random

so how would i do this?

Something like this: ?

PHP Code:

<?php
$numchars = rand(4,15);
$chars = explode(',','a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9');
$random='';
for($i=0; $i<$numchars;$i++)  {
  $random.=$chars[rand(0,count($chars)-1)];
}

echo $random;

?>

Ignore spaces in the alphabet array, the php syntax highlighter puts them in on long lines for some unknown reason...

You can also use keycodes for random letters and numbers
A reference for ASCII Key Codes

PHP Code:

<?php
$pwd=""; // to store generated password

for($i=0;$i<15;$i++)
{
$num=rand(48,122);
  if(($num > 97 && $num < 122))
  {
      $pwd.=chr($num);
  }
  else if(($num > 65 && $num < 90))
  {
      $pwd.=chr($num);
  }
  else if(($num >48 && $num < 57))
  {
      $pwd.=chr($num);
  }
  else if($num==95)
  {
      $pwd.=chr($num);
  }
  else
  {
      $i--;
  }
}
echo $pwd; // prints the password
?>

Since we're sharing techniques...

I usually use curly brackets with a string of characters, instead of exploding into an array:

PHP Code:

// Instead of using arrays
$chars = explode(' ', 'a b c d e f g');
$e = $chars[4];

// You can use curlies
$chars = 'abcdefg';
$e = $chars{4}; 


In this case, something like this might do:

PHP Code:

                                                        // Examples
echo randomStr()                        . "<br />\n";   // HxaScR4B
echo randomStr(10)                      . "<br />\n";   // PJzQ0T7qvJ5BU0
echo randomStr(10, 30)                  . "<br />\n";   // TkVcembw642Et4aVOrPb5NIM
echo randomStr(10, 30, 'dsjklfuds87')   . "<br />\n";   // d8ldsldu7kkjskdjsuuff7

function randomStr($min_chars = 4, $max_chars = 15, $use_chars = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789')
{
    $num_chars  = rand($min_chars, $max_chars);
    $num_usable = strlen($use_chars) - 1;
    $string     = '';

    for($i = 0; $i < $num_chars; $i++)
    {
        $rand_char = rand(0, $num_usable);

        $string .= $use_chars{$rand_char};
    }

    return $string;
} 


Ignore spaces in the alphabet array, the php syntax highlighter puts them in on long lines for some unknown reason...

vB puts a space in every 80 chars to stop people from inserting huge lines that stretch the post tables.

thanks all, these are jsut what i wanted