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<?php
$entries = array();

/*******************************************************************************
    Store the recipes in a 2-dimensional array with category_id as the first key
********************************************************************************/
{exp:channel:entries channel="recipes" dynamic="no" disable="member_data|pagination|category_fields"}
    $entry =<<<EOE
        <h2>{title}</h2>
<p>        /images/site/our_fish/plate_icon.jpg{description}<br />
<a href="/index.php/{url_title}">» Continue Reading</a><br />
EOE;<br />
    {categories}<br />
        $entries[{category_id}][] = $entry;<br />
    {/categories}<br />
{/exp:channel:entries}</p>

<p>/*******************************************************************************<br />
    Get the category_id of for the current page<br />
********************************************************************************/  <br />
$cid = "{exp:channel:entries channel="pages"}{categories}{category_id}{/categories}{/exp:channel:entries}";</p>

<p>/*******************************************************************************<br />
    Print up to 3 recipes in the current category<br />
********************************************************************************/<br />
$cnt = 0;    <br />
if(isset($entries[$cid])) {<br />
    shuffle($entries[$cid]);<br />
    foreach($entries[$cid] as $val) {<br />
        echo $val;<br />
        if(++$cnt >= 3)break;<br />
    }<br />
}</p>

<p>/*******************************************************************************<br />
    If we haven't printed 3 recipes yet, select 3 at random and print them.<br />
********************************************************************************/<br />
$prev_keys = array(); // Store previous keys to avoid duplicates<br />
while($cnt < 3) {<br />
        $rand_key = mt_rand(0, (count($entries) - 1));<br />
        while($rand_key == $cid || !array_key_exists($rand_key, $entries)) $rand_key = mt_rand(0, (count($entries) - 1));<br />
        $rand_entry = array_rand($entries[$rand_key]);<br />
        $pk = $rand_key + $rand_entry;<br />
        if(in_array($pk, $prev_keys)) continue; // Don't print duplicates<br />
        $prev_keys[] = $pk;<br />
        echo $entries[$rand_key][$rand_entry];<br />
        ++$cnt;<br />
}<br />
?>