Hi I'm trying to create a script that generates a random number only one number at a time. I have this RANDOM=12342 while true do echo "$RANDOM" done That generates random numbers but an endless string of them how do I generate only one number?

Why not use print $RANDOM You don't need to set RANDOM, since it is a system variable. Just get rid of the loop, which is why you are getting a stream of numbers.

If what you are looking for is a random single digit, check "parameter substitution" section of man for ksh, or find good korn shell manual. As an example use the following to generate a single random number from the first position of any number generated by $RANDOM: #!/bin/ksh NUM=$RANDOM echo $NUM case ${#NUM} in 1) echo ${NUM} ;; 2) echo ${NUM#?} ;; 3) echo ${NUM#??} ;; 4) echo ${NUM#???} ;; 5) echo ${NUM#????} ;; *) echo "huh?" ;; esac NOTE: ${NUM%?} will use the last positional number rather than the first.