Get Random SKU Product Number - magento

Question

I have the following code:
$sku = $id;
$_product=Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->loadByAttribute('sku',$sku); //Get Product by ID (ASIN)
$qtyStock = Mage::getModel('cataloginventory/stock_item')->loadByProduct($_product)->getQty(); //if in stock
$_prodcats = $_product->getCategoryIds();
It works by specfing the SKU id, I want to be able to get random SKU product number and use it so
$sku = random product number from database

Answer 1

I used the following script to generate a random sku from the collection. You can use it to suit your requirement also.
//Geting a random sku from collection
$collection = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getCollection();
$collection->getSelect()->order(new Zend_Db_Expr('RAND()'));
$randomSku = $collection->setPage(1, 1)->getFirstItem()->getSKU();
In your case your code should look like.......
$collection = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getCollection();
$collection->getSelect()->order(new Zend_Db_Expr('RAND()'));
$_product = $collection->setPage(1, 1)->getFirstItem()->load();
$qtyStock = Mage::getModel('cataloginventory/stock_item')->loadByProduct($_product)->getQty(); //if in stock
$_prodcats = $_product->getCategoryIds();

Answer 2

Something like that should work fine ;)
$collection = Mage::getResourceModel(‘catalog/product_collection’);
Mage::getModel(‘catalog/layer’)->prepareProductCollection($collection);
$collection->getSelect()->order(‘rand()’);
$collection->addStoreFilter();
$collection->setPage(1, 1);
$_product = $collection->getFirstItem();

Answer 3

Below code I used in project and its working fine for me :
<?php
// get Random prdocut list
$collection = Mage::getResourceModel(‘catalog/product_collection’);
Mage::getModel(‘catalog/layer’)->prepareProductCollection($collection);
$collection->getSelect()->order(‘rand()’);
$collection->addStoreFilter();
$numProducts = $this->getNumProducts() ? $this->getNumProducts() : 2;
$collection->setPage(1, $numProducts);
foreach($collection as $product){
echo $product->getName();
}
?>