sub random_string {
	my $self    = shift;
	my $result  = shift;
	
	$result = '' 	unless (defined($result));
	
	my @letters   = ('A'..'Z', 'a'..'z');
	my @letternum = ('A'..'Z', 'a'..'z', '0'..'9');
	
# PRODUCES RANDOM ALPHANUMERIC IDENT 8 CHARS LONG, FIRST CHAR ALPHA.
	$result .= $letters[rand $#letters];
	$result .= join "", map { $letternum[rand $#letternum] } 1..7;
	
	return $result;
}