genrandom.3 (886B)
1 .TH GENRANDOM 3 2 .SH NAME 3 genrandom, prng \- random number generation 4 .SH SYNOPSIS 5 .B #include <u.h> 6 .br 7 .B #include <libc.h> 8 .br 9 .B #include <mp.h> 10 .br 11 .B #include <libsec.h> 12 .PP 13 .B 14 void genrandom(uchar *buf, int nbytes) 15 .PP 16 .B 17 void prng(uchar *buf, int nbytes) 18 .SH DESCRIPTION 19 Most security software requires a source of random or, at the 20 very least, unguessable numbers. 21 .PP 22 .I Genrandom 23 fills a buffer with bytes from the X9.17 pseudo-random 24 number generator. The X9.17 generator is seeded by 24 25 truly random bytes read via 26 .I truerand 27 (see 28 .MR rand (3) ). 29 .PP 30 .I Prng 31 uses the native 32 .MR rand (3) 33 pseudo-random number generator to fill the buffer. Used with 34 .IR srand , 35 this function can produce a reproducible stream of pseudo random 36 numbers useful in testing. 37 .PP 38 Both functions may be passed to 39 .I mprand 40 (see 41 .MR mp (3) ). 42 .SH SOURCE 43 .B \*9/src/libsec 44 .SH SEE ALSO 45 .MR mp (3)