rnd string from array, no repeats

i have an array of strings. i want to keep track of which ones i've used so i don't use them again. so right now i have it so that it adds the string to a listbox. when it chooses a word, it checks to see if it's already in the listbox. if it's already there, it'll keep choosing another string from the array until it finds one that hasn't been used yet. the problem with this method is that sometimes it'll stall for a long time because vb keeps choosing the same numbers over and over. does anyone know of a better way?

Why dont you have 2 listboxes....one with the ones to choose and ones with the ones that have been chosen.

When you use a string, move it from one listbox to the other, that way you will only select a new string from ones that havent been chosen. If you dont want 2 listboxes, use 2 collections

Here is an other option. You could load the contents of the array into a collection and as the item is used remove it from the collection.

VB Code:

Option Explicit
Dim strState(9) As String
Dim colState As Collection
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim i As Integer
    
    If colState.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub
    
    Randomize
    i = (Int(Rnd() * colState.Count)) + 1
    
    Me.Print colState(i)
    colState.Remove i
 
        
End Sub
 
Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim i As Integer
    Me.AutoRedraw = True
    
    strState(0) = "Alabama"
    strState(1) = "Alaska"
    strState(2) = "Arizona"
    strState(3) = "Arkansas"
    strState(4) = "California"
    strState(5) = "Colorado"
    strState(6) = "Connecticut"
    strState(7) = "Delaware"
    strState(8) = "Florida"
    strState(9) = "Georgia"
    
    Set colState = New Collection
    For i = 0 To 9
        colState.Add Item:=strState(i)
    Next i
End Sub

oh yeah...i was doing it backwards. hm.. thanks.