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Picking a random winner

Topic Labels: Automations
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Amber_Allen
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Hello!

I need help with a process that I am hoping can happen in Airtable. We have a monthly ticket raffle where someone can enter for several different events. For example

Amber entered for Red, Blue, and Green
Jen entered for Red and Green
Sally entered for Blue

I broke out the data into different views so that I am only looking at Red, Blue, or Green and picking the winner. I tried to generate a random number using this method - Auto Generate Random Number, and then sort from least to greatest, but the problem is that Amber has the same chance of winning Red, Blue, and Green since the number is the same for each event.

In excel I just used a =rand which assigned a truly random number. Is there any way to make this happen in Airtable?

1 Reply 1

As an aside, it’s very difficult for any computer to generate a truly random number.

Ergo, however separate the views may be, the generated numbers are deeply biased. Overcoming this requires a script that populates separate fields containing the best possibility of randomness for red, blue, and green outcomes.