xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/stdlib/rand.3 (revision 6e8394b8baa7d5d9153ab90de6824bcd19b3b4e1)
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36.\"     @(#)rand.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
37.\"
38.Dd May 25, 1999
39.Dt RAND 3
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm rand ,
43.Nm srand ,
44.Nm rand_r
45.Nd bad random number generator
46.Sh SYNOPSIS
47.Fd #include <stdlib.h>
48.Ft void
49.Fn srand "unsigned seed"
50.Ft int
51.Fn rand void
52.Ft int
53.Fn rand_r "unsigned *ctx"
54.Sh DESCRIPTION
55.Bf -symbolic
56These interfaces are obsoleted by random(3).
57.Ef
58.Pp
59The
60.Fn rand
61function computes a sequence of pseudo-random integers in the range
62of 0 to
63.Dv RAND_MAX
64(as defined by the header file
65.Aq Pa stdlib.h ) .
66.Pp
67The
68.Fn srand
69function sets its argument
70.Fa seed
71as the seed for a new sequence of
72pseudo-random numbers to be returned by
73.Fn rand .
74These sequences are repeatable by calling
75.Fn srand
76with the same seed value.
77.Pp
78If no
79.Fa seed
80value is provided, the functions are automatically
81seeded with a value of 1.
82.Pp
83.Fn rand_r
84provides the same functionality as
85.Fn rand .
86A pointer to the context value
87.Fa ctx
88must be supplied by the caller.
89.Sh SEE ALSO
90.Xr random 3
91.Sh STANDARDS
92The
93.Fn rand
94and
95.Fn srand
96functions
97conform to
98.St -ansiC .
99.Pp
100The
101.Fn rand_r
102function is as proposed in the POSIX.4a Draft #6 document.
103