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I am working on a research project regarding Bing and it's search results, and since I am still very new to PHP, I am looking for a little bit of help. Yesterday I already got some help here and the result was so great that I am trying once more :)

I have the following code:

<?php
$r = '{"d":{"results":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/Composite?Sources=\u0027web\u0027&Market=\u0027en-US\u0027&Query=\u0027php\u0027&Adult=\u0027off\u0027&$skip=0&$top=1","type":"ExpandableSearchResult"},"ID":"1c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2","WebTotal":"10600000","WebOffset":"0","ImageTotal":"","ImageOffset":"","VideoTotal":"","VideoOffset":"","NewsTotal":"","NewsOffset":"","SpellingSuggestionsTotal":"","AlteredQuery":"","AlterationOverrideQuery":"","Web":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=0&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"4cf2a8d6-21b7-433d-81e9-84e74091a44a","Title":"PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor","Description":"What is PHP? PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.","DisplayUrl":"www.php.net","Url":"http://www.php.net/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=48&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"2d8f8107-895e-4052-9edc-b656e74c3f2e","Title":"CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages","Description":"Official website. Offers a manual for beginners and links towards the last version.","DisplayUrl":"cakephp.org","Url":"http://cakephp.org/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=49&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"816d781c-ff8b-4a60-b5b7-28d807bba28a","Title":"PHP Presents","Description":"Welcome to the PHP Presentation System. Here we list all of the available presentation categories stored within this system.","DisplayUrl":"talks.php.net","Url":"http://talks.php.net/"}],"Image":[],"Video":[],"News":[],"RelatedSearch":[],"SpellingSuggestions":[]}]}}';
$r = json_decode($r);
foreach($r->d->results as $value) {
  foreach($value->Web as $result) {
    echo $result->Title, "\r\n";
    echo $result->Description, "\r\n";
    echo $result->Url, "\r\n";
  }
}
?>

This basically shows the title, description and URL of the three sites of the json results from Bing (Note: It's not always just 3 results, normally it's 10 but can be any number)

Now here is what my big mission is: For my research project, I need to shuffle the results randomly, meaning I would like to see it for example like:

First time I load the page: CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages PHP Presents PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

Second time I load the page: PHP Presents PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages

Third time I load the page: PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages PHP Presents

Again, the order above is just an example - I really want it randomly with no specific order.

I would like to thank my previous helpers and I am looking forward to your answers.

Thank you for your time reading this :)

Update: If anyone would be so kind and also show me an example of only shuffling the results except the first three ones - that would be really great.

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  • Edited answer for three first results... Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 12:17

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

You can use a temporary array to store the lines and the shuffle method to randomize it.

<?php
$r = '{"d":{"results":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/Composite?Sources=\u0027web\u0027&Market=\u0027en-US\u0027&Query=\u0027php\u0027&Adult=\u0027off\u0027&$skip=0&$top=1","type":"ExpandableSearchResult"},"ID":"1c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2","WebTotal":"10600000","WebOffset":"0","ImageTotal":"","ImageOffset":"","VideoTotal":"","VideoOffset":"","NewsTotal":"","NewsOffset":"","SpellingSuggestionsTotal":"","AlteredQuery":"","AlterationOverrideQuery":"","Web":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=0&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"4cf2a8d6-21b7-433d-81e9-84e74091a44a","Title":"PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor","Description":"What is PHP? PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.","DisplayUrl":"www.php.net","Url":"http://www.php.net/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=48&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"2d8f8107-895e-4052-9edc-b656e74c3f2e","Title":"CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages","Description":"Official website. Offers a manual for beginners and links towards the last version.","DisplayUrl":"cakephp.org","Url":"http://cakephp.org/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=49&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"816d781c-ff8b-4a60-b5b7-28d807bba28a","Title":"PHP Presents","Description":"Welcome to the PHP Presentation System. Here we list all of the available presentation categories stored within this system.","DisplayUrl":"talks.php.net","Url":"http://talks.php.net/"}],"Image":[],"Video":[],"News":[],"RelatedSearch":[],"SpellingSuggestions":[]}]}}';
$r = json_decode($r);
$tmpArray = array();
foreach($r->d->results as $value) {
  foreach($value->Web as $result) {
    $string = $result->Title."\r\n";
    $string.= $result->Description."\r\n";
    $string.= $result->Url."\r\n";
    $tmpArray[] = $string;
  }
}
shuffle($tmpArray);
foreach($tmpArray as $string){
    echo $string;
}
?>

Also this might work:

$r = json_decode($r);
$r->d->results = shuffle($r->d->results);

EDIT : To shuffle every key but the first three:

<?php
$r = '{"d":{"results":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/Composite?Sources=\u0027web\u0027&Market=\u0027en-US\u0027&Query=\u0027php\u0027&Adult=\u0027off\u0027&$skip=0&$top=1","type":"ExpandableSearchResult"},"ID":"1c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2","WebTotal":"10600000","WebOffset":"0","ImageTotal":"","ImageOffset":"","VideoTotal":"","VideoOffset":"","NewsTotal":"","NewsOffset":"","SpellingSuggestionsTotal":"","AlteredQuery":"","AlterationOverrideQuery":"","Web":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=0&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"4cf2a8d6-21b7-433d-81e9-84e74091a44a","Title":"PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor","Description":"What is PHP? PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.","DisplayUrl":"www.php.net","Url":"http://www.php.net/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=48&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"2d8f8107-895e-4052-9edc-b656e74c3f2e","Title":"CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages","Description":"Official website. Offers a manual for beginners and links towards the last version.","DisplayUrl":"cakephp.org","Url":"http://cakephp.org/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=49&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"816d781c-ff8b-4a60-b5b7-28d807bba28a","Title":"PHP Presents","Description":"Welcome to the PHP Presentation System. Here we list all of the available presentation categories stored within this system.","DisplayUrl":"talks.php.net","Url":"http://talks.php.net/"}],"Image":[],"Video":[],"News":[],"RelatedSearch":[],"SpellingSuggestions":[]}]}}';
$r = json_decode($r);
$tmpArray = array();
foreach($r->d->results as $value) {
  foreach($value->Web as $result) {
    $string = $result->Title."\r\n";
    $string.= $result->Description."\r\n";
    $string.= $result->Url."\r\n";
    $tmpArray[] = $string;
  }
}
$limit = min(3,count($tmpArray)) -1;
for($i=0;$i<$limit;$i++){
    echo array_shift($tmpArray); // echo and remove first item
}
shuffle($tmpArray);
foreach($tmpArray as $string){
    echo $string;
}
?>
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3 Comments

Hello, thank you for your solution. One thing: I get a Warning on part 1 of your code: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/user/domains/domain.com/public_html/test.php on line 14 - Any idea what is causing this?
Could you maybe have a look at this code: codepad.org/ubYt3zZH - I tried using it (it's the second part with keeping the first 3 results and shuffle the rest) but for some reason this fails. The first part of your code that you have edited works great :)
There is a problem with your json string. Check its syntax. And accept answer ;-)
0 
<?php
$r = '{"d":{"results":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/Composite?Sources=\u0027web\u0027&Market=\u0027en-US\u0027&Query=\u0027php\u0027&Adult=\u0027off\u0027&$skip=0&$top=1","type":"ExpandableSearchResult"},"ID":"1c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2","WebTotal":"10600000","WebOffset":"0","ImageTotal":"","ImageOffset":"","VideoTotal":"","VideoOffset":"","NewsTotal":"","NewsOffset":"","SpellingSuggestionsTotal":"","AlteredQuery":"","AlterationOverrideQuery":"","Web":[{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=0&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"4cf2a8d6-21b7-433d-81e9-84e74091a44a","Title":"PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor","Description":"What is PHP? PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.","DisplayUrl":"www.php.net","Url":"http://www.php.net/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=48&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"2d8f8107-895e-4052-9edc-b656e74c3f2e","Title":"CakePHP: the rapid development php framework. Pages","Description":"Official website. Offers a manual for beginners and links towards the last version.","DisplayUrl":"cakephp.org","Url":"http://cakephp.org/"},{"__metadata":{"uri":"https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/Bing/Search/ExpandableSearchResultSet(guid\u00271c509d25-5ca4-4db5-bfc5-cafd6917e2c2\u0027)/Web?$skip=49&$top=1","type":"WebResult"},"ID":"816d781c-ff8b-4a60-b5b7-28d807bba28a","Title":"PHP Presents","Description":"Welcome to the PHP Presentation System. Here we list all of the available presentation categories stored within this system.","DisplayUrl":"talks.php.net","Url":"http://talks.php.net/"}],"Image":[],"Video":[],"News":[],"RelatedSearch":[],"SpellingSuggestions":[]}]}}';
$r = shuffle(json_decode($r));
foreach($r->d->results as $value) {
  foreach($value->Web as $result) {
    echo $result->Title, "\r\n";
    echo $result->Description, "\r\n";
    echo $result->Url, "\r\n";
  }
}
?>
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