summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/lib/libc/stdlib/random.3
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'lib/libc/stdlib/random.3')
-rw-r--r--lib/libc/stdlib/random.3196
1 files changed, 196 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/lib/libc/stdlib/random.3 b/lib/libc/stdlib/random.3
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6502bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libc/stdlib/random.3
@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1991, 1993
+.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
+.\"
+.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+.\" are met:
+.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
+.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
+.\" without specific prior written permission.
+.\"
+.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
+.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
+.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
+.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
+.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
+.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
+.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
+.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
+.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
+.\"
+.\" @(#)random.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
+.\" $FreeBSD$
+.\"
+.Dd June 4, 1993
+.Dt RANDOM 3
+.Os
+.Sh NAME
+.Nm random ,
+.Nm srandom ,
+.Nm srandomdev ,
+.Nm initstate ,
+.Nm setstate
+.Nd better random number generator; routines for changing generators
+.Sh LIBRARY
+.Lb libc
+.Sh SYNOPSIS
+.In stdlib.h
+.Ft long
+.Fn random void
+.Ft void
+.Fn srandom "unsigned long seed"
+.Ft void
+.Fn srandomdev void
+.Ft char *
+.Fn initstate "unsigned long seed" "char *state" "long n"
+.Ft char *
+.Fn setstate "char *state"
+.Sh DESCRIPTION
+The
+.Fn random
+function
+uses a non-linear additive feedback random number generator employing a
+default table of size 31 long integers to return successive pseudo-random
+numbers in the range from 0 to
+.if t 2\u\s731\s10\d\(mi1.
+.if n (2**31)\(mi1.
+The period of this random number generator is very large, approximately
+.if t 16\(mu(2\u\s731\s10\d\(mi1).
+.if n 16*((2**31)\(mi1).
+.Pp
+The
+.Fn random
+and
+.Fn srandom
+functions have (almost) the same calling sequence and initialization properties as the
+.Xr rand 3
+and
+.Xr srand 3
+functions.
+The difference is that
+.Xr rand 3
+produces a much less random sequence \(em in fact, the low dozen bits
+generated by rand go through a cyclic pattern.
+All the bits generated by
+.Fn random
+are usable.
+For example,
+.Sq Li random()&01
+will produce a random binary
+value.
+.Pp
+Like
+.Xr rand 3 ,
+.Fn random
+will by default produce a sequence of numbers that can be duplicated
+by calling
+.Fn srandom
+with
+.Ql 1
+as the seed.
+.Pp
+The
+.Fn srandomdev
+routine initializes a state array using the
+.Xr random 4
+random number device which returns good random numbers,
+suitable for cryptographic use.
+Note that this particular seeding
+procedure can generate states which are impossible to reproduce by
+calling
+.Fn srandom
+with any value, since the succeeding terms in the
+state buffer are no longer derived from the LC algorithm applied to
+a fixed seed.
+.Pp
+The
+.Fn initstate
+routine allows a state array, passed in as an argument, to be initialized
+for future use.
+The size of the state array (in bytes) is used by
+.Fn initstate
+to decide how sophisticated a random number generator it should use \(em the
+more state, the better the random numbers will be.
+(Current "optimal" values for the amount of state information are
+8, 32, 64, 128, and 256 bytes; other amounts will be rounded down to
+the nearest known amount.
+Using less than 8 bytes will cause an error.)
+The seed for the initialization (which specifies a starting point for
+the random number sequence, and provides for restarting at the same
+point) is also an argument.
+The
+.Fn initstate
+function
+returns a pointer to the previous state information array.
+.Pp
+Once a state has been initialized, the
+.Fn setstate
+routine provides for rapid switching between states.
+The
+.Fn setstate
+function
+returns a pointer to the previous state array; its
+argument state array is used for further random number generation
+until the next call to
+.Fn initstate
+or
+.Fn setstate .
+.Pp
+Once a state array has been initialized, it may be restarted at a
+different point either by calling
+.Fn initstate
+(with the desired seed, the state array, and its size) or by calling
+both
+.Fn setstate
+(with the state array) and
+.Fn srandom
+(with the desired seed).
+The advantage of calling both
+.Fn setstate
+and
+.Fn srandom
+is that the size of the state array does not have to be remembered after
+it is initialized.
+.Pp
+With 256 bytes of state information, the period of the random number
+generator is greater than
+.if t 2\u\s769\s10\d,
+.if n 2**69
+which should be sufficient for most purposes.
+.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
+If
+.Fn initstate
+is called with less than 8 bytes of state information, or if
+.Fn setstate
+detects that the state information has been garbled, error
+messages are printed on the standard error output.
+.Sh SEE ALSO
+.Xr arc4random 3 ,
+.Xr lrand48 3 ,
+.Xr rand 3 ,
+.Xr srand 3 ,
+.Xr random 4
+.Sh HISTORY
+These
+functions appeared in
+.Bx 4.2 .
+.Sh AUTHORS
+.An Earl T. Cohen
+.Sh BUGS
+About 2/3 the speed of
+.Xr rand 3 .
+.Pp
+The historical implementation used to have a very weak seeding; the
+random sequence did not vary much with the seed.
+The current implementation employs a better pseudo-random number
+generator for the initial state calculation.
+.Pp
+Applications requiring cryptographic quality randomness should use
+.Xr arc4random 3 .
OpenPOWER on IntegriCloud