int merge_rint = 7716383;
int merge_mult = 331804469;


int merge_random(int n)
{
 merge_rint=(merge_rint * merge_mult)-1;
 return((((merge_rint & 0x7FFFFFFF)>>16)*n)/0x8000);
}



string merge_strip(int n,int max)
{
 int i=1;
 int j=0;

 while(j<n && i<=max)
 {
  if(field(i)!="")j++; 
  i++;
 }

 return((j<n)?"":field(i-1));
}

