NAME

       drand48,  erand48, lrand48, nrand48, mrand48, jrand48, srand48, seed48, lcong48 - generate
       uniformly distributed pseudo-random numbers

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdlib.h>

       double drand48(void);

       double erand48(unsigned short xsubi[3]);

       long int lrand48(void);

       long int nrand48(unsigned short xsubi[3]);

       long int mrand48(void);

       long int jrand48(unsigned short xsubi[3]);

       void srand48(long int seedval);

       unsigned short *seed48(unsigned short seed16v[3]);

       void lcong48(unsigned short param[7]);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       All functions shown above: _SVID_SOURCE || _XOPEN_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION

       These functions generate pseudo-random numbers using the linear congruential algorithm and
       48-bit integer arithmetic.

       The  drand48()  and erand48() functions return nonnegative double-precision floating-point
       values uniformly distributed between [0.0, 1.0).

       The  lrand48()  and  nrand48()  functions  return  nonnegative  long  integers   uniformly
       distributed between 0 and 2^31.

       The  mrand48()  and  jrand48() functions return signed long integers uniformly distributed
       between -2^31 and 2^31.

       The srand48(), seed48() and lcong48() functions are initialization functions, one of which
       should be called before using drand48(), lrand48() or mrand48().  The functions erand48(),
       nrand48() and jrand48() do not require an initialization function to be called first.

       All the functions work by generating a sequence of 48-bit integers, Xi, according  to  the
       linear congruential formula:

              Xn+1 = (aXn + c) mod m, where n >= 0

       The parameter m = 2^48, hence 48-bit integer arithmetic is performed.  Unless lcong48() is
       called, a and c are given by:

              a = 0x5DEECE66D
              c = 0xB

       The value returned by any of the functions  drand48(),  erand48(),  lrand48(),  nrand48(),
       mrand48() or jrand48() is computed by first generating the next 48-bit Xi in the sequence.
       Then the appropriate number of bits, according to the type of data item to be returned, is
       copied from the high-order bits of Xi and transformed into the returned value.

       The  functions drand48(), lrand48() and mrand48() store the last 48-bit Xi generated in an
       internal buffer.  The functions erand48(), nrand48() and  jrand48()  require  the  calling
       program  to provide storage for the successive Xi values in the array argument xsubi.  The
       functions are initialized by placing the initial value of Xi into the array before calling
       the function for the first time.

       The  initializer  function  srand48()  sets  the  high order 32-bits of Xi to the argument
       seedval.  The low order 16-bits are set to the arbitrary value 0x330E.

       The initializer function seed48() sets the value of Xi to the 48-bit  value  specified  in
       the  array  argument  seed16v.  The previous value of Xi is copied into an internal buffer
       and a pointer to this buffer is returned by seed48().

       The initialization function lcong48() allows the user to specify initial values for Xi,  a
       and  c.  Array argument elements param[0-2] specify Xi, param[3-5] specify a, and param[6]
       specifies c.  After lcong48() has been called, a subsequent call to  either  srand48()  or
       seed48() will restore the standard values of a and c.

ATTRIBUTES

   Multithreading (see pthreads(7))
       The drand48(), erand48(), lrand48(), nrand48(), mrand48(), jrand48(), srand48(), seed48(),
       and lcong48() functions record global state information for the random  number  generator,
       so they are not thread-safe.

CONFORMING TO

       SVr4, POSIX.1-2001.

NOTES

       These  functions are declared obsolete by SVID 3, which states that rand(3) should be used
       instead.

SEE ALSO

       rand(3), random(3)

COLOPHON

       This page is part of release 3.54 of the Linux man-pages project.  A  description  of  the
       project,     and    information    about    reporting    bugs,    can    be    found    at
       http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

                                            2013-06-21                                 DRAND48(3)