Comments on: Generate Random Character String https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/ ...because it's more than just a calculator Sat, 04 Feb 2017 19:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Hakeem Sisney https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1951 Sat, 04 Feb 2017 19:25:00 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1951 Greetings,

I’m trying to populate twenty cells with a combination of 3 random characters. I’ve gotten this far:

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/35b28e2bfb4111a374e01594e371353551e7cd82c5a4bd48f650f46e02b65238.png

As you can see, many of the cells have combinations of three, but have the same letter twice (CFF), which is not correct for my assignment. I’ve already figured it out on paper, I just wanted to see if there was a function in Excel for it. Any takers?

]]> By: Scott DeLuzio https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1931 Thu, 12 Jan 2017 16:56:00 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1931 In reply to Mike Bundy.

I’m glad it worked for you Mike!

]]> By: Mike Bundy https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1929 Thu, 12 Jan 2017 12:24:00 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1929 Absolutely perfect for me, thank you. Just what I was looking for :)

]]> By: Scott DeLuzio https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1715 Fri, 29 May 2015 21:58:00 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1715 In reply to Michael Hortert.

It really depends on how many characters you are using in your strings. If you’re using the example code to generate an 8 character string we’re looking at

1st character: 10 possible outcomes (0-9)
2nd character: 26 possible outcomes (A-Z)
3rd character: 26 possible outcomes (a-z)
4th character: 15 possible outcomes (various symbols)
5th character: 10 possible outcomes (0-9)
6th character: 26 possible outcomes (A-Z)
7th character: 26 possible outcomes (a-z)
8th character: 15 possible outcomes (various symbols)

Obviously the more characters you add, the more combinations are available before you start to see duplicates.

Unless you’re filling an entire worksheet with random combinations like this, you probably won’t be running into duplicates very often. My guess is you’d hit memory limits before you hit a duplicate though. If you do, I suppose you could add a 9th character?

]]> By: Michael Hortert https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1714 Wed, 27 May 2015 12:30:40 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1714 Do we know how many random combinations this can generate before duplicates would be seen?

]]> By: Scott DeLuzio https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1581 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 18:17:59 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1581 In reply to Alex Kuhn.

Considering that there are a number of “thanks for the tip” and “great advice” comments on this post, and that there was no substantial explanation as to what didn’t work in your situation, I’m guessing that we are looking at a case of operator error.
However, if you can explain what you were trying to do, how you did it, what result you were expecting, and the actual result you got I would be happy to assist you with working through the problem.

]]> By: Alex Kuhn https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1580 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 13:28:25 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1580 Horrible. This did not help at all. I was very disappointed. The people who made this website should not make any more.

]]> By: Scott DeLuzio https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1550 Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:40:11 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1550 In reply to Juliana Todesco.

I’m glad this helped. Just note that it is possible using this method to duplicate values if used repeatedly. It is a truly random selection, so the tracking number 1-111-11111 has an equal chance of being generated the next time the formula is run as it did the first time the number was generated.
If duplicates are acceptable (although with the range of numbers you’re using they are not very likely), then this method will work fine. If not, you may want to try sequential numbering to avoid duplicates.

]]> By: Juliana Todesco https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1549 Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:29:42 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1549 This was very helpful!
With this information I was able to create random tracking numbers.
The format being: 1-111-11111
So the formula I entered:
=RANDBETWEEN(0,2)&CHAR(45)&RANDBETWEEN(100,999)&CHAR(45)&RANDBETWEEN(10000,99999)
The first number had to be either 1 or 2 and I couldn’t have any of the numbers beginning with zero, so this is what I came up with!
Thanks again because I couldn’t find a clear explanation anywhere else (the symbol breakdown was especially helpful!)

]]> By: Ben Kusmin a/k/a Excel Esquire https://excelzoom.com/generate-a-random-character-string/#comment-1477 Wed, 28 Jan 2015 18:26:10 +0000 http://excelzoom.com/?p=453#comment-1477 Nice post Scott. If you want to choose a random letter or character from a certain set of your choosing, you can also embed the CHOOSE function. For example, the following formula returns a random vowel:
=CHAR(CHOOSE(RANDBETWEEN(1,5),65,69,73,79,85))
Vanna, can I buy a vowel?

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