Random but unique

[Jim Hurley]

>
>On Monday, January 13, 2003, at 11:30 AM, Jim Hurley wrote:
>
>>>  sort lines of vChooseFrom by random(10000)  -- or some suitably big
>>>  number
>>>  return line 1 to vNumToChoose of vChooseFrom
>>>
>>
>>  I see how this works, and it is deliciously simple, but I don't see
>>  why. According to the documentation:
>>
>  > "The shortKey is a chunk expression that specifies which part of each
>>  line is used as the sort key. "
>
>Here is my guess.  You can probably try some tests to see if it is
>right.
>
>You are missing the very tiny print after "sortKey".  If you look very,
>very, very closely, the doc will read like this:
>
>"The sortKey is an expression, typically a chunk expression that
>specifies ..."
>
>This command:
>
>sort lines of ... by blahBlahBlah
>
>gets a sort key by calling (virtually) this function on each line:
>
>function sortKey each
>     return blahBlahBlah
>end if
>
>If I'm right, you should be able to do other interesting sorts.
>
>Dar Scott


Dar,

Thanks you for your insight.

This sort command makes Transcript complete for me: A mystery 
function. We all need a little mystery in our lives.

I will add the congruity of the  two lines:

sort lines of field thisField by word 1 of each
sort lines of field thisField by random(2000)

to my list of zen koans for meditation. I think I have exhausted the 
sound of one hand clapping.

Jim