RAND(3P) POSIX Programmer's Manual RAND(3P)PROLOG
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
rand, rand_r, srand — pseudo-random number generator
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
int rand(void);
int rand_r(unsigned *seed);
void srand(unsigned seed);
DESCRIPTION
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.1‐2008 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 inte‐
gers 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 vol‐
ume of POSIX.1‐2008 calls rand() or srand().
RETURN VALUE
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
No errors are defined.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
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 incorpo‐
rated 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
The drand48() function provides a much more elaborate random number
generator.
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. Therefore this function should be
avoided whenever non-trivial requirements (including safety) have to be
fulfilled.
RATIONALE
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 inter‐
ference 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 func‐
tion.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The rand_r() function may be removed in a future version.
SEE ALSOdrand48()
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <stdlib.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri‐
cal and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. (This is
POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) 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.unix.org/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.ker‐
nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
IEEE/The Open Group 2013 RAND(3P)
