Shuffle data in a repeatable way (ability to get the same "random" order again) - sql

Question

This is the opposite of what most "random order" questions are about.
I want to select data from a database in random order. But I want to be able to repeat certain selects, getting the same order again.
Current (random) select:
SELECT custId, rand() as random from
(
SELECT DISTINCT custId FROM dummy
)
Using this, every key/row gets a random number. Ordering those ascending results in a random order.
But I want to repeat this select, getting the very same order again. My idea is to calculate a random number (r) once per session (e.g. "4") and use this number to shuffle the data in some way.
My first idea:
SELECT custId, custId * 4 as random from
(
SELECT DISTINCT custId FROM dummy
)
(in real life "4" would be something like 4005226664240702)
This results in a different number for each line but the same ones every run. By changing "r" to 5 all numbers will change.
The problem is: multiplication is not sufficient here. It just increases the numbers but keeps the order the same. Therefore I need some other kind of arithmetic function.
More abstract
Starting with my data (A-D). k is the key and r is the random number currently used:
k r
A = 1 4
B = 2 4
C = 3 4
D = 4 4
Doing some calculation using k and r in every line I want to get something like:
k r
A = 1 4 --> 12
B = 2 4 --> 13
C = 3 4 --> 11
D = 4 4 --> 10
The numbers can be whatever they want, but when I order them ascending I want to get a different order than the initial one. In this case D, C, A, B, E.
Setting r to 7 should result in a different order (C, A, B, D):
k r
A = 1 7 --> 56
B = 2 7 --> 78
C = 3 7 --> 23
D = 4 7 --> 80
Every time I use r = 7 should result in the same numbers => same order.
I'm looking for a mathematical function to do the calculation with k and r. Seeding the RAND() function is not suitable because it's not supported by some databases we support
Please note that r is already a randomly generated number
Background
One Table - Two data consumers. One consumer will get random 5% of the table, the other one the other 95%. They don't just get the data but a generated SQL. So there are two SQL's which must not select the same data twice but still random.

Answer 1

You could try and implement the Multiply-With-Carry PseudoRandomNumberGenerator. The C version goes like this (source: Wikipedia):
m_w = <choose-initializer>; /* must not be zero, nor 0x464fffff */
m_z = <choose-initializer>; /* must not be zero, nor 0x9068ffff */
uint get_random()
{
m_z = 36969 * (m_z & 65535) + (m_z >> 16);
m_w = 18000 * (m_w & 65535) + (m_w >> 16);
return (m_z << 16) + m_w; /* 32-bit result */
}
In SQL, you could create a table Random, with two columns to contain w and z, and one ID column to identify each session. Perhaps your vendor supports variables and you need not bother with the table.
Nonetheless, even if we use a table, we immediately run into trouble cause ANSI SQL doesn't support unsigned INTs. In SQL Server I could switch to BIGINT, unsure if your vendor supports that.
CREATE TABLE Random (ID INT, [w] BIGINT, [z] BIGINT)
Initialize a new session, say number 3, by inserting 1 into z and the seed into w:
INSERT INTO Random (ID, w, z) VALUES (3, 8921, 1);
Then each time you wish to generate a new random number, do the computations:
UPDATE Random
SET
z = (36969 * (z % 65536) + z / 65536) % 4294967296,
w = (18000 * (w % 65536) + w / 65536) % 4294967296
WHERE ID = 3
(Note how I have replaced bitwise operands with div and mod operations and how, after computing, you need to mod 4294967296 to stay within the proper 32 bits unsigned int range.)
And select the new value:
SELECT(z * 65536 + w) % 4294967296
FROM Random
WHERE ID = 3
SQLFiddle demo

Answer 2

Not sure if this applies in non-SQL Server, but typically when you use a RAND() function, you can specify a seed. Everytime you specify the same seed, the randomization will be the same.
So, it sounds like you just need to store the seed number and use that each time to get the same set of random numbers.
MSDN Article on RAND

Answer 3

Each vendor has solved this in its own way. Creating your own implementation will be hard, since random number generation is difficult.
Oracle
dbms_random can be initialized with a seed: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/appdev.102/b14258/d_random.htm#i998255
SQL Server
First call to RAND() can provide a seed: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177610.aspx
MySql
First call to RAND() can provide a seed: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mathematical-functions.html#function_rand
Postgresql
Use SET SEED or SELECT setseed() : http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/sql-set.html