In PL/SQL I have created a table with random numbers generated from the DBMS_RANDOM routine. Now I need to sort the rows and place them into another table, so that when the user extracts 'X' amount of records, they will get a true random sampling, and not just the ones at the top of the feed chain. What is the best way to sort, as I am putting records into another table?

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I think best way to do it is to add a sequencing column S to the original table that will number the random numbers from 1 to N rows. When inserting to the new table, use X select statement that "chooses" random numbers between 1 AND N. Do X times:

INSERT INTO NEW_table ......
SELECT .... from OLD_TABLES
WHERE S = random_nbr (from 1 to N)

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This was first published in February 2003

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