select random value from each type - mysql

Question

I have two tables, rating:
+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------+
| rating_id | entity_id | rating_code | position |
+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------+
| 1 | 1 | Quality | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | Value | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | Price | 0 |
+-----------+-----------+-------------+----------+
And rating_option
+-----------+-----------+------+-------+----------+
| option_id | rating_id | code | value | position |
+-----------+-----------+------+-------+----------+
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 10 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
+-----------+-----------+------+-------+----------+
I need a SQL query (not application level, must stay in the database) which will select a set of ratings randomly. A sample result would look like this, but would pick a random value for each rating_id on subsequent calls:
+-----------+-----------+------+-------+----------+
| option_id | rating_id | code | value | position |
+-----------+-----------+------+-------+----------+
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 15 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
+-----------+-----------+------+-------+----------+
I'm totally stuck on the random part, and grouping by rating_id has been a crap shoot so far. Any MySQL ninjas want to take a stab?
Thanks,
Joe
EDIT: I've tried rand() in a bunch of combinations, and I'm sure that it will be necessary to create the randomness of the result, but I cannot figure out how to return one random row for each of the rows in rating. I cannot use order by rand() limit 1 because I need three rows, and order by rand() limit 3 won't give me one of each rating_id, which is the ultimate goal. I need a combination of rand() and either subqueries or joins so that I can ensure one of each rating_id.

Answer 1

Alright, a little messy, but seems to do the job. Someone may know what they're doing better than I do that can clean this up:
SELECT random.rating_id, random.rand_option_id, r3.code, r3.value, r3.position
FROM
(SELECT r.rating_id,
(SELECT r2.option_id
FROM rating_option r2
WHERE r2.rating_id = r.rating_id
ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1) AS 'rand_option_id'
FROM rating_option r
GROUP BY r.rating_id
) random
LEFT JOIN rating_option AS r3 ON r3.option_id = rand_option_id
Results (varies every time, of course):
+-----------+----------------+------+-------+----------+
| rating_id | rand_option_id | code | value | position |
+-----------+----------------+------+-------+----------+
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
+-----------+----------------+------+-------+----------+

Answer 2

You could use the rand() function to do sorting in a select on the rating table.
For example:
select rating_id from rating order by rand() limit 1

Answer 3

As clarified in your comments, and the other posts above
select * from rating_option order by rand()
will return all records in a random order... However, if you want only X number, then inclue that as the limit as noted by others
select * from rating_option order by rand() limit 5 (or whatever number)

Answer 4

Have you looked into the rand() function?
SELECT column FROM table
ORDER BY RAND()
LIMIT 1
http://www.petefreitag.com/item/466.cfm
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/mathematical-functions.html#function_rand
Sample code
select *
from rating_option
group by rating_id
order by rand()