NAME

       random_r, srandom_r, initstate_r, setstate_r - reentrant random number generator

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdlib.h>

       int random_r(struct random_data *buf, int32_t *result);

       int srandom_r(unsigned int seed, struct random_data *buf);

       int initstate_r(unsigned int seed, char *statebuf,
                       size_t statelen, struct random_data *buf);
       int setstate_r(char *statebuf, struct random_data *buf);

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

       random_r(), srandom_r(), initstate_r(), setstate_r():
           _SVID_SOURCE || _BSD_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION

       These functions are the reentrant equivalents of the functions described in random(3).  They are suitable
       for use in multithreaded programs where each thread needs to obtain an independent, reproducible sequence
       of random numbers.

       The random_r() function is like random(3), except that instead of using state information maintained in a
       global  variable,  it  uses the state information in the argument pointed to by buf, which must have been
       previously initialized by initstate_r().  The generated random number is returned in the argument result.

       The srandom_r() function is like srandom(3), except that it initializes the seed for  the  random  number
       generator  whose  state  is  maintained  in the object pointed to by buf, which must have been previously
       initialized by initstate_r(), instead of the seed associated with the global state variable.

       The initstate_r() function is like initstate(3) except that  it  initializes  the  state  in  the  object
       pointed to by buf, rather than initializing the global state variable.

       The  setstate_r() function is like setstate(3) except that it modifies the state in the object pointer to
       by buf, rather than modifying the global state variable.

RETURN VALUE

       All of these functions return 0 on success.  On error, -1 is returned, with errno  set  to  indicate  the
       cause of the error.

ERRORS

       EINVAL A state array of less than 8 bytes was specified to initstate_r().

       EINVAL The statebuf or buf argument to setstate_r() was NULL.

       EINVAL The buf or result argument to random_r() was NULL.

ATTRIBUTES

       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
       ┌─────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬──────────────────┐
       │ Interface                   │ Attribute     │ Value            │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼──────────────────┤
       │ random_r(), srandom_r(),    │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe race:buf │
       │ initstate_r(), setstate_r() │               │                  │
       └─────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴──────────────────┘

CONFORMING TO

       These functions are nonstandard glibc extensions.

SEE ALSO

       drand48(3), rand(3), random(3)

COLOPHON

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       information  about  reporting  bugs,  and  the  latest  version  of  this   page,   can   be   found   at
       http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

GNU                                                2015-12-28                                        RANDOM_R(3)