Problem with random number generation

Question

hey forum, i wonder if anyone can help me out with a small problem with my university coursework (yep its homework!!!)
heres my problem, i am writing one of them 8 puzzle problems (the one based around sam lloyds 15 puzzler), i can successfully generate one random sequence of numbers with no duplicates, but whenever i call the random method again it keeps producing the same results
heres the code
in my main class file
if(e.getSource() == randomButton) {
      new RandomPuzzle();
      System.out.println(random.randState);
      //startStateString = new RandomPuzzle();
}heres my number generator class file
import java.util.Random;
import java.io.*;
public class RandomPuzzle
     /** Base Random number generator */
    Random rn = new Random();
    /** Puzzle holder */
    byte b[];
    long number = 0;
    String randState = "";
    /** Default constructor */
    public RandomPuzzle() {
        rn.setSeed(number);
        b = new byte[9];
        randState = randomString();
    /** Provide range for generation */
    public int rand(int lo, int hi) {
        int n = hi - lo + 1;
        int i = rn.nextInt() % n;
        if (i < 0)
        i = -i;
        return lo + i;
    /** Set size for array */
    public int rand( int hi){
        int n = hi;
            return n;
    /** Check for duplicate values within the same configuration */
    boolean valueExists( byte value ) {
        int i = b.length;
        boolean exists = false;
        for( int j = 0; j < i; j++ ){
            if( b[j] == value )
                exists = true;
        return exists;
    /** returns the actual string */
    public String randomString(int lo, int hi) {
        int n = rand( 9 );
        //boolean valueEntered = false;
        for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
            boolean valueEntered = false;
            byte temp = (byte)rand('0', '8');
            while( valueEntered == false ) {
                if( !valueExists( temp ) ) {
                     b[i] = temp;
                     valueEntered = true;
                else
                    temp = (byte)rand('0', '8');
        return new String(b, 0);
    /** calls above function */
    public String randomString() {
        return randomString(0, 8);
}i've tried for hours to work this out, but i am stumped. if anyone can point me in the right direction, maybe point out the problem code and give one or two tips i would be forever in your debt
thanx in advance
korbitz

Answer 1

thanx for the help paulcw, but when i removed the seed code it done the same
but i added this to my main class and now it works fine
if(e.getSource() == randomButton) {
               RandomPuzzle temp = new RandomPuzzle();
               System.out.println(temp.randState);
               //startStateString = new RandomPuzzle();
          }thanx again for your help