foreach(XmlNode catNode in catNodes){

if(catNode.Attributes["name"].InnerText.ToString().ToLower() == catname.ToString().ToLower()){
promoWeights = new string[catNode.ChildNodes.Count];
int j = 0;
//go through nodes
foreach(XmlNode promoNode in (XmlNodeList)catNode.ChildNodes)
{
//add to hasthable
htPromos.Add(promoNode.ChildNodes[0].InnerText.ToString(),promoNode.ChildNodes);
//add weight to array
promoWeights[j] = promoNode.ChildNodes[5].InnerText.ToString();
totalWeight += Convert.ToInt32(promoNode.ChildNodes[5].InnerText);
++j;
}

how would a heavier item be selected more than a lighter one? do you mean using the dataTable instead of the hashTable? 

If so could you explain a bit more?  

Whats faster a hashtable or dataset datatable.

thanks

mcm

thanks so much,  i used your idea of the ArrayList to save me the headache with looping and creating a normal array. Worked like a charm.  I'm posting the load event and the xmlLoad method so you can see how i integrated it into a random selection,  Please tell me what you think i would appreciate it greatly. 

The only methd i left out is what writs it to two stacked div cells,  all i do is cast a xmlNodeList from my hashTable item object and get the necessary childnodes from that and write them to a html string.
That gets fed into two stacked divs.  It works great and initial testing of the "randomness" of it is hopeful.  Out of 10 tests the code had to re-calc non-matching promotions only once.

thanks for all your help,
mcm

//page load event
  private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
  {
   //create filepath and name
   string filepath = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["filepath"];
   string filename = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["filename"];
   string category = "";
   //determine if page.ID is on this page, if it is use it as category name.
   if(Page.ID == null)
   {
    category = (string)Request.Url.Segments[Request.Url.Segments.Length - 1];
   }
   else
   {
    category = Page.ID.ToString();
   }
   //get the promos
   ArrayList pickList = getPromos(filepath + filename,category);
   //create random number for first promo
   Random:
   Random rn = new Random();
   int idx = (int)rn.Next(pickList.Count);
   int promo1Id = Convert.ToInt32(pickList[idx]);
   int idx2 = (int)rn.Next(pickList.Count);
   int promo2Id = Convert.ToInt32(pickList[idx2]);
   if(promo1Id == promo2Id){goto Random;};
   //use random number to pick what to show.
   displayPromo(idx,promo1);
   displayPromo(idx2,promo2);
  }

  //gets the promos
  private ArrayList getPromos(string xmlFile,string catname)
  {
   try
   {
    XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();
    xml.Load(xmlFile);
    //get node list of categories
    XmlNodeList catNodes = xml.GetElementsByTagName("Category");
    //create hashtable & ArrayList
    Hashtable htPromos = new Hashtable();
    ArrayList pickList = new ArrayList();
    //loop through xml
    foreach(XmlNode catNode in catNodes)
    {
     if(catNode.Attributes["name"].InnerText.ToString().ToLower() == catname.ToString().ToLower())
     {
      //go through nodes
      foreach(XmlNode promoNode in (XmlNodeList)catNode.ChildNodes)
      {
       //add to hasthable
       htPromos.Add(promoNode.ChildNodes[0].InnerText.ToString(),promoNode.ChildNodes);
       //get weight
       int itemWeight = Convert.ToInt32(promoNode.ChildNodes[5].InnerText.ToString());
       //add item to picklist x times based on weight
       for(int i=0;i<itemWeight;++i)
       {
        pickList.Add(promoNode.ChildNodes[0].InnerText.ToString());

       } 
      }
     }
    }
    //insert the array and hashtable to cache
    Cache.Insert("picklist",pickList);
    Cache.Insert("htpromos",htPromos);
    //return array
    return pickList;
   }
   catch(XmlException xmlEx)
   {
    string errMsg = xmlEx.Message.ToString();
    return null;  
   }
  }