xref: /dragonfly/lib/libc/stdlib/rand.3 (revision 19fe1c42)
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36.\"     @(#)rand.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
37.\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/stdlib/rand.3,v 1.14 2003/09/08 19:57:15 ru Exp $
38.\" $DragonFly: src/lib/libc/stdlib/rand.3,v 1.6 2007/06/29 19:34:41 swildner Exp $
39.\"
40.Dd May 25, 1999
41.Dt RAND 3
42.Os
43.Sh NAME
44.Nm rand ,
45.Nm srand ,
46.Nm sranddev ,
47.Nm rand_r
48.Nd bad random number generator
49.Sh LIBRARY
50.Lb libc
51.Sh SYNOPSIS
52.In stdlib.h
53.Ft void
54.Fn srand "unsigned seed"
55.Ft void
56.Fn sranddev void
57.Ft int
58.Fn rand void
59.Ft int
60.Fn rand_r "unsigned *ctx"
61.Sh DESCRIPTION
62.Bf -symbolic
63These interfaces are obsoleted by
64.Xr random 3 .
65.Ef
66.Pp
67The
68.Fn rand
69function computes a sequence of pseudo-random integers in the range
70of 0 to
71.Dv RAND_MAX
72(as defined by the header file
73.In stdlib.h ) .
74.Pp
75The
76.Fn srand
77function sets its argument
78.Fa seed
79as the seed for a new sequence of
80pseudo-random numbers to be returned by
81.Fn rand .
82These sequences are repeatable by calling
83.Fn srand
84with the same seed value.
85.Pp
86If no
87.Fa seed
88value is provided, the functions are automatically
89seeded with a value of 1.
90.Pp
91The
92.Fn sranddev
93function initializes a seed using the
94.Xr random 4
95random number device which returns good random numbers,
96suitable for cryptographic use.
97.Pp
98The
99.Fn rand_r
100function
101provides the same functionality as
102.Fn rand .
103A pointer to the context value
104.Fa ctx
105must be supplied by the caller.
106.Sh SEE ALSO
107.Xr arc4random 3 ,
108.Xr random 3 ,
109.Xr random 4
110.Sh STANDARDS
111The
112.Fn rand
113and
114.Fn srand
115functions
116conform to
117.St -isoC .
118.Pp
119The
120.Fn rand_r
121function is as proposed in the POSIX.4a Draft #6 document.
122