Random pick item

Hi,

I would like to ask a simple question as below:

In the connection of:
source -> queue -> combiner
what can i do to let the combiner to random pick items in the queue (not fifo or lifo)?

My first idea would be to define the position of the items in the queue at OnEntry, which can be random:

int iRank = duniform(1, content(current) + 1);
setrank(item,iRank);

The combiner always takes the first item and if I change the rank in the queue it is a kind of randomness which one he chooses.
It is not exactly what you are asking for, but I guess it could be still a solution. Or at least it will give you a hint.

Thanks, problem solved

Kelvin,

Another method would be to randomly select an item from the Queue with the Pull Requirement. You would need a label to store a variable and the following code.

if(getrank(item) == 1)
{
setlabelnum(current, "ItemRank", duniform(1, content(inobject(current, port))));
}

return getrank(item) == getlabelnum(current, "ItemRank");

If you only wanted to do the random pull for the pallets or for the items then you would need a port check first. Here is the code for that:

//Only randomly pull pallets
if(port > 1) return 1;

//Only randomly pull items
if(port == 1) return 1;

So, now you have two different methods to do the same thing.

Good Luck,
Brandon