How do you pick a random string from an array?

[tjl037]

Hello there, how do you pick a random string in Swift from an array? for example;

let names = [“Timmy”, “Von”, “Bimmy”]

Thank you.

[ceramo69]

Guess this could be an option:

// For example:
let names = ["Timmy", "Von", "Bimmy", "Ray", "Wenderlich"]
let randomNumber = Int.random(in: 0..<names.count)

print("Random string:", names[randomNumber])

Run this a few times.

[tjl037]

It worked, thank you so much! If you wouldn’t mind answering another question, how would you print the result in the message of an alert?

[ceramo69]

Not sure what you mean by that, like in an alert popup? Might want to provide some context and I’ll see what I can do

[tjl037]

Yeah, I meant in an alert popup. Sorry about that!

For example:

You know how you create an alert with an UIAlertController and you can specify the title, and message, and preferredStyle. I would like the random string to show in the message of the alert.

[ceramo69]

No worries. Yeah you’ll have to do so like the following, for example:

let names = ["Timmy", "Von", "Bimmy", "Ray", "Wenderlich"]

@IBAction func showAlert() { 
    // ^ Hook this up to a button via Interface Builder

    let randomNumber = Int.random(in: 0..<names.count)
    
    let alertController = UIAlertController(title: nil, message: names[randomNumber], preferredStyle: .alert)
    let alertAction = UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil)
    alertController.addAction(alertAction)
    
    self.present(alertController, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

Example project : Click me to download
Hope this is what you’re looking for, if not, contact me via Twitter @PieterVelghe

[tjl037]

That’s awesome! thank you so much

[jayantvarma]

Hi @tjl037,
a couple of things for you

1. If you want to get a random string from an array then the newer release of Swift has made it simple, you can simply use the randomElement() function on the array - as in

  let names = ["timmy", "tommy", "tammy", "tabby", "tubby", "tooby"]
  print(names.randomElement()!)

2. You want to display alerts you can create an extension that can allow you to display the alert or a function that can have a signature like

  func showAlert(title: String = "", message: String) { ... }

this way you can pass it a title and or a message

cheers,

Jayant