Provided by: libdata-random-perl_0.13-1_all 
NAME
Data::Random - Perl module to generate random data
SYNOPSIS
use Data::Random qw(:all);
my @random_words = rand_words( size => 10 );
my @random_chars = rand_chars( set => 'all', min => 5, max => 8 );
my $string = rand_chars( set => 'all', min => 5, max => 8 );
my @random_set = rand_set( set => \@set, size => 5 );
my $random_enum = rand_enum( set => \@set );
my $random_enum = rand_enum( \@set ); # shortcut
my $random_date = rand_date();
my $random_time = rand_time();
my $random_datetime = rand_datetime();
open(my $file, ">", "rand_image.png") or die $!;
binmode($file);
print $file rand_image( bgcolor => [0, 0, 0] );
close($file);
DESCRIPTION
A module used to generate random data. Useful mostly for test programs.
METHODS
rand_words()
This returns a list of random words given a wordlist. See below for possible parameters.
• wordlist - the path to the wordlist file. On Debian systems one can be found at
/usr/share/dict/words. You can also optionally supply a Data::Random::WordList object
to keep a persistent wordlist. The default is the wordlist distributed with this
module.
• min - the minimum number of words to return. The default is 1.
• max - the maximum number of words to return. The default is 1.
• size - the number of words to return. The default is 1. If you supply a value for
'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention to.
• shuffle - whether or not the words should be randomly shuffled. Set this to 0 if you
don't want the words shuffled. The default is 1. Random::Data::WordList returns
words in the order that they're viewed in the word list file, so shuffling will make
sure that the results are a little more random.
rand_chars()
When called in a list context this returns a list of random characters given a set of
characters. In a scalar context it returns a string of random characters. See below for
possible parameters.
• set - the set of characters to be used. This value can be either a reference to an
array of strings, or one of the following:
alpha - alphabetic characters: a-z, A-Z
upperalpha - upper case alphabetic characters: A-Z
loweralpha - lower case alphabetic characters: a-z
numeric - numeric characters: 0-9
alphanumeric - alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9
char - non-alphanumeric characters: # ~ ! @ $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + = - { } | : " < > ? / . ' ; ] [ \ `
misc - same as 'char'
all - all of the above
• min - the minimum number of characters to return. The default is 0.
• max - the maximum number of characters to return. The default is the size of the set.
• size - the number of characters to return. The default is 1. If you supply a value
for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention to.
• shuffle - whether or not the characters should be randomly shuffled. Set this to 0 if
you want the characters to stay in the order received. The default is 1.
rand_set()
This returns a random set of elements given an initial set. See below for possible
parameters.
• set - the set of strings to be used. This should be a reference to an array of
strings.
• min - the minimum number of strings to return. The default is 0.
• max - the maximum number of strings to return. The default is the size of the set.
• size - the number of strings to return. The default is 1. If you supply a value for
'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention to.
• shuffle - whether or not the strings should be randomly shuffled. Set this to 0 if
you want the strings to stay in the order received. The default is 1.
rand_enum()
This returns a random element given an initial set. See below for possible parameters.
• set - the set of strings to be used. This should be a reference to an array of
strings. The "set" key will be assumed if the array reference is passed as the only
argument.
rand_date()
This returns a random date in the form "YYYY-MM-DD". 2-digit years are not currently
supported. Efforts are made to make sure you're returned a truly valid date - ie, you'll
never be returned the date February 31st. See the options below to find out how to
control the date range. Here are a few examples:
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date, and one year from the current date
$date = rand_date();
# returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and September 21, 1979
$date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21' );
# returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and the current date
$date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21', max => 'now' );
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date and September 21, 2008
$date = rand_date( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21' );
See below for possible parameters.
• min - the minimum date to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD" or you
can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current date. The default is
the current date;
• max - the maximum date to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD" or you
can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current date. The default is
one year from the minimum date;
rand_time()
This returns a random time in the form "HH:MM:SS". 24 hour times are supported. See the
options below to find out how to control the time range. Here are a few examples:
# returns a random 24-hr time (between 00:00:00 and 23:59:59)
$time = rand_time();
# returns a time somewhere in between 04:00:00 and the end of the day
$time = rand_time( min => '4:0:0' );
# returns a time somewhere in between 8:00:00 and the current time (if it's after 8:00)
$time = rand_time( min => '12:00:00', max => 'now' );
# returns a date somewhere in between the current time and the end of the day
$time = rand_time( min => 'now' );
See below for possible parameters.
• min - the minimum time to be returned. It should be in the form "HH:MM:SS" or you can
alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current time. The default is
00:00:00;
• max - the maximum time to be returned. It should be in the form "HH:MM:SS" or you can
alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current time. The default is
23:59:59;
rand_datetime()
This returns a random date and time in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS". See the options
below to find out how to control the date/time range. Here are a few examples:
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time, and one year from the current date/time
$datetime = rand_datetime();
# returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and 4:00 September 21, 1979
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0' );
# returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and the current date
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0', max => 'now' );
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time and the end of the day September 21, 2008
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21 23:59:59' );
See below for possible parameters.
• min - the minimum date/time to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD
HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current
date/time. The default is the current date/time;
• max - the maximum date/time to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD
HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current
date/time. The default is one year from the minimum date/time;
rand_image()
This returns a random image. Currently only PNG images are supported. See below for
possible parameters.
• minwidth - the minimum width of the image. The default is 1.
• maxwidth - the maximum width of the image. The default is 100.
• width - the width of the image. If you supply a value for 'width', then 'minwidth'
and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.
• minheight - the minimum height of the image. The default is 1.
• maxheight - the maximum height of the image. The default is 100.
• height - the height of the image. If you supply a value for 'width', then 'minwidth'
and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.
• minpixels - the minimum number of random pixels to display on the image. The default
is 0.
• maxpixels - the maximum number of random pixels to display on the image. The default
is width * height.
• pixels - the number of random pixels to display on the image. If you supply a value
for 'pixels', then 'minpixels' and 'maxpixels' aren't paid attention to.
• bgcolor - the background color of the image. The value must be a reference to an RGB
array where each element is an integer between 0 and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).
• fgcolor - the foreground color of the image. The value must be a reference to an RGB
array where each element is an integer between 0 and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).
VERSION
0.12
AUTHOR
Originally written by: Adekunle Olonoh
Currently maintained by: Buddy Burden (barefoot@cpan.org), starting with version 0.06
CREDITS
Hiroki Chalfant
David Sarno
Michiel Beijen
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2000-2011 Adekunle Olonoh. Copyright (c) 2011-2015 Buddy Burden. All
rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
Data::Random::WordList