Re: [xml] EXSLT random() function

[Chuck Bearden <cbearden rice edu>]

Daniel Veillard wrote:
[...]
>  Use the source, it's available !
>
> static double
> exsltMathRandom (void) {
>     double ret;
>     int num;
>
>     num = rand();
>     ret = (double)num / (double)RAND_MAX;
>     return(ret);
> }
>
> and man rand() states
>
> --------------------
>        The  rand()  function  returns  a  pseudo-random  integer between 0 and
>        RAND_MAX.
>
>        The srand() function sets its argument as the seed for a  new  sequence
>        of  pseudo-random  integers  to be returned by rand().  These sequences
>        are repeatable by calling srand() with the same seed value.
>
>        If no seed value is provided,  the  rand()  function  is  automatically
>        seeded with a value of 1.
> --------------------

Thank you for your informative reply.  I actually know less than you 
think I do :-)  I did look at the source, and the syntax and logic were 
clear enough, but I haven't worked in C, and it didn't occur to me that 
I could 'man rand' since it is in the standard library.  It's all 
perfectly clear when you know the conventions, and now I've learned a 
bit.  The concern about portability makes perfect sense, and if time() 
is portable, then the solution in your follow-up reply makes sense to me 
as well.

Thanks,
Chuck
--
Chuck Bearden (cbearden rice edu ; 713.348.3661)
XML Engineer, Connexions
http://cnx.org/