WinAutomation - windows automation software with macro recorder
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      nambu
      User offline. Last seen 7 weeks 4 days ago. Offline
      Joined: 01/07/2010
      Posts: 9

      I know there is a very useful "Sort List" action in WinAutomation which sorts list items in alphanumerical order. But from what I can see, there doesn't seem to be any way to randomize the order of a list. However, I'm still new to WinAutomation, so I might be overlooking something.

       

      What I'm trying to do at the moment is randomize the order of numbers.

      So for example, 1 2 3 4 5

      would output as 2 4 5 1 3 (or any other possible variation)

       

      This could also be useful for randomizing the order of keyword combos in anchor text, page titles, etc. Any ideas anyone might have on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

      D.M.Altizer
      User offline. Last seen 6 hours 18 min ago. Offline
      Joined: 01/12/2010
      Posts: 193
      Re: Randomize order of a list

      This is a problem that has been mentioned again a couple of times in this forum. As far as I know, in the next release of WinAutomation (I believe it will be v3.1), 2 new actions will be added that will help you deal with problems like this: the "Shuffle List" action and the "Generate Random Number" action (notice that I made up the names based on the functionality that WinAutomation's staff described to me). 

      For the time being, there is a work around that uses a web site that offers the specific feature. I have found the work around somewhere in this forum but since I was not able to locate it, I cleaned it a bit and I'm attaching it here.

      Credits go to some guy from the WinAutomation staff that posted it.

      AttachmentSize
      Get Random Numbers.waj 38 KB
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      nambu
      User offline. Last seen 7 weeks 4 days ago. Offline
      Joined: 01/07/2010
      Posts: 9
      Re: Randomize order of a list

      Hey, I just noticed this post from you D.M.Altizer. Thanks!

       

      I actually ended up making a similar workaround using php to shuffle the numbers. WinAutomation passes the variables to my php page via the URL, then downloads and parses the results. I was thinking of posting about randomization in the "Request a Feature" forum here, but it seems from what you say that the WinAutomation staff are already on it.

       

      These are two actions I find myself constantly needing when creating WinAutomation jobs: "Generate Random Number" and "Shuffle List".

       

      Thank goodness WinAutomation is flexible enough that there are workarounds for pretty much anything. But I'm really looking forward to the addition of these two actions as it will make the creation of internet marketing jobs many many times easier.

      Thomas Minitsios
      User offline. Last seen 7 weeks 1 day ago. Offline
      Joined: 07/16/2009
      Posts: 36
      Re: Randomize order of a list

      Hi nambu,

      It is true that we have received a lot of requests about the specific actions and they will both be added in the next release of WinAutomation (v3.1). I am not sure what name they will have though since the developers did not release this kind of information yet. However, we believe that the specific actions will provide you with a lot more options when it comes to randomization when sending information to the web.

      nambu
      User offline. Last seen 7 weeks 4 days ago. Offline
      Joined: 01/07/2010
      Posts: 9
      Re: Randomize order of a list

      Thomas, that's great to hear! I'm looking forward to the next version. Thanks for the support!