Random number generator

Ok so im helping out my local gaming center by writing a program that allows me to input the number of teams that are participating in a tournament, then output what bracket line they will be on for the brackets tournament. I have everything working except the numbers repeat, I need a way to check and "re-roll" so the numbers never match. I know i can use a for loop but its been almost 4 years since ive written a program. I was also thinking if there is a way i can just fill the array and then shuffle it and print the numbers that way. Any help is appreciated.

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctime>
#include <time.h>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int x;
cout<<"how many teams are in the tournament?"<<endl;
cin>>x;
time_t seconds;
time(&seconds);
srand((unsigned int) seconds);
int i;//spot
int t;//team

int spots[x];
i=0;
t=1;
while(i<x)
{

spots[i]=rand()%(x-1+1)+1 ;
cout<<"Team "<<t<<" is on bracket line "<<spots[i];
i=i+1;
t=t+1;
cout<<endl;
}



system("PAUSE");
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}




Its a little sloppy but it works

random_shuffle would be your best bet.

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/a...andom_shuffle/

How large is the range of numbers you are generating? If the range of numbers you are generating are small to medium, maybe a bit array as boolean flags denoting if a number has been generated already?

I didn't compile this, I just typed it in.

Code:

---

// Our range of numbers is say 0 to and including 1023, so we have
// 1024 possible numbers, divide by 8 and we need 128 bytes for
// out bit array

struct BitArray
{
    inline BitArray()
    {
        for (unsigned long i = 0; i < 128; ++i)
        {
            Flags[i] = 0;
        }
    }
    unsigned char Flags[128];

    inline bool IsBitSet(unsigned long dwValue)
    {
        if (dwValue < 1024)
        {
            const unsigned long dwByteIndex = dwValue / 8; // dwValue >> 3;
            const unsigned long dwBitIndex = dwValue % 8; // dwValue & 7;

            const unsigned char ucBit = 1 << dwBitIndex;

            return (Flags[dwByteIndex] & ucBit) != 0;
        }
        else
        {
            // throw an appropriate exception here
        }
    }

    inline void SetBit(unsigned long dwValue,bool bValue)
    {
        if (dwValue < 1024)
        {
            const unsigned long dwByteIndex = dwValue / 8;
            const unsigned long dwBitIndex = dwValue % 8;

            const unsigned char ucBit = 1 << dwBitIndex;

            if (bValue == true)
            {
                Flags[dwByteIndex] |= ucBit;
            }
            else
            {
                Flags[dwByteIndex] &= ~ucBit;
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // throw an appropriate exception here
        }
    }
};

int main(int argc,char * argv[])
{
    srand(::GetTickCount()); // Probably should use CRT function, but whatever...

    int Spots[1024];
    int nCount = 0;

    BitArray myFlags;

    while (nCount < 1024)
    {
        const int nTemp = rand() % 1024; // rand() & 1023; // NOTE: Because of power of 2 could use AND
        // check if the bit is set
        if (myFlags.IsBitSet(nTemp) == true)
        {
            continue;
        }
        else
        {
            Spots[nCount] = nTemp;
          myFlags.SetBit(nTemp,true);
          ++nCount;
        }
    }

    // whatever you need from here

    return 0;
}

---

^If you're going to take that approach, a std::bitset or a std::vector<bool> (which is not a true vector, and should be replaced by boost::dynamic_bitset if you have access to Boost) is simpler than rolling a new class.

I agree that std::random_shuffle will probably be good enough though.