rand(3p) — Linux manual page

PROLOG | NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUE | ERRORS | EXAMPLES | APPLICATION USAGE | RATIONALE | FUTURE DIRECTIONS | SEE ALSO | COPYRIGHT

RAND(3P)                POSIX Programmer's Manual               RAND(3P)

PROLOG         top

       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The
       Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
       corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
       or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME         top

       rand, rand_r, srand — pseudo-random number generator

SYNOPSIS         top

       #include <stdlib.h>

       int rand(void);
       int rand_r(unsigned *seed);
       void srand(unsigned seed);

DESCRIPTION         top

       For rand() and srand(): The functionality described on this
       reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. Any conflict
       between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is
       unintentional. This volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C
       standard.

       The rand() function shall compute a sequence of pseudo-random
       integers in the range [0,{RAND_MAX}] with a period of at least
       232.

       The rand() function need not be thread-safe.

       The rand_r() function shall compute a sequence of pseudo-random
       integers in the range [0,{RAND_MAX}].  (The value of the
       {RAND_MAX} macro shall be at least 32767.)

       If rand_r() is called with the same initial value for the object
       pointed to by seed and that object is not modified between
       successive returns and calls to rand_r(), the same sequence shall
       be generated.

       The srand() function uses the argument as a seed for a new
       sequence of pseudo-random numbers to be returned by subsequent
       calls to rand().  If srand() is then called with the same seed
       value, the sequence of pseudo-random numbers shall be repeated.
       If rand() is called before any calls to srand() are made, the
       same sequence shall be generated as when srand() is first called
       with a seed value of 1.

       The implementation shall behave as if no function defined in this
       volume of POSIX.1‐2017 calls rand() or srand().

RETURN VALUE         top

       The rand() function shall return the next pseudo-random number in
       the sequence.

       The rand_r() function shall return a pseudo-random integer.

       The srand() function shall not return a value.

ERRORS         top

       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES         top

   Generating a Pseudo-Random Number Sequence
       The following example demonstrates how to generate a sequence of
       pseudo-random numbers.

           #include <stdio.h>
           #include <stdlib.h>
           ...
               long count, i;
               char *keystr;
               int elementlen, len;
               char c;
           ...
           /* Initial random number generator. */
               srand(1);

               /* Create keys using only lowercase characters */
               len = 0;
               for (i=0; i<count; i++) {
                   while (len < elementlen) {
                       c = (char) (rand() % 128);
                       if (islower(c))
                           keystr[len++] = c;
                   }

                   keystr[len] = '\0';
                   printf("%s Element%0*ld\n", keystr, elementlen, i);
                   len = 0;
               }

   Generating the Same Sequence on Different Machines
       The following code defines a pair of functions that could be
       incorporated into applications wishing to ensure that the same
       sequence of numbers is generated across different machines.

           static unsigned long next = 1;
           int myrand(void)  /* RAND_MAX assumed to be 32767. */
           {
               next = next * 1103515245 + 12345;
               return((unsigned)(next/65536) % 32768);
           }

           void mysrand(unsigned seed)
           {
               next = seed;
           }

APPLICATION USAGE         top

       The drand48() and random() functions provide much more elaborate
       pseudo-random number generators.

       The limitations on the amount of state that can be carried
       between one function call and another mean the rand_r() function
       can never be implemented in a way which satisfies all of the
       requirements on a pseudo-random number generator.

       These functions should be avoided whenever non-trivial
       requirements (including safety) have to be fulfilled.

RATIONALE         top

       The ISO C standard rand() and srand() functions allow per-process
       pseudo-random streams shared by all threads. Those two functions
       need not change, but there has to be mutual-exclusion that
       prevents interference between two threads concurrently accessing
       the random number generator.

       With regard to rand(), there are two different behaviors that may
       be wanted in a multi-threaded program:

        1. A single per-process sequence of pseudo-random numbers that
           is shared by all threads that call rand()

        2. A different sequence of pseudo-random numbers for each thread
           that calls rand()

       This is provided by the modified thread-safe function based on
       whether the seed value is global to the entire process or local
       to each thread.

       This does not address the known deficiencies of the rand()
       function implementations, which have been approached by
       maintaining more state. In effect, this specifies new thread-safe
       forms of a deficient function.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS         top

       The rand_r() function may be removed in a future version.

SEE ALSO         top

       drand48(3p), initstate(3p)

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, stdlib.h(0p)

COPYRIGHT         top

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic
       form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information
       Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The
       Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright
       (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
       Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.  In the event of any
       discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The
       Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be
       obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page
       are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of
       the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

IEEE/The Open Group               2017                          RAND(3P)

Pages that refer to this page: stdlib.h(0p)drand48(3p)initstate(3p)srand(3p)