RandomNumberGenerator class

As its name suggests, the RandomNumberGenerator class is designed to generate random numbers. It is patterned after the Sirius functions $Random and $Random_Seed, described in the Sirius Functions Reference Manual.

The class differs from the $functions in these important ways:

• For flexibility, the “seeds” specified to the methods are arbitrary length longstrings, not numbers. The longstrings are MD5 hashed to be used as a seed.
• “Salt” values are available on some methods to provide additional random data for creating a random seed. Like the seed, the salt is MD5 hashed and then included as part of the initial random data.

The methods in this class are listed in RandomNumberGenerator methods.

The methods in the class include a New constructor to instantiate an object, a Value method for printing as well as constraining the random number value range, and an UpdateSeed method to reset the value of an object.

Example

As an example, the methods in this request create a reproducible sequence of ten numbers between 0 and 99:

   b

   %rand  is object randomNumberGenerator
   %i     is float

   %rand = new(seed='abcd')
     for %i from 1 to 10
        printtext {~} = {%rand:value(0, 99)}
     end for

   end

The RandomNumberGenerator class is new as of Sirius Mods version 7.3.