no way to compare when less than two revisions

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+# $EPIC: rand.txt,v 1.2 2006/08/19 06:07:20 sthalik Exp $
+======Synopsis:======
+$__rand__(<maximum>)
+======Technical:======
+   * If <maximum> is omitted, this function returns the empty string.
+   * Otherwise, a "random number" that fits in an "unsigned long" on your machine is created:
+     * If <maximum> is zero, the "random number" is returned as is.
+     * Otherwise, the return value is "as if" you had done the following: \\ ${rand(0) % <maximum>}
+For an overview of what a "Random number" is, see [[Random_Numbers]](7)
+======Practical:======
+If you don't know what random numbers are good for, then don't worry about
+this function.  If you do know what random numbers are good for, then you
+don't need to have this explained to you. ;-)
+======Returns:======
+If <maximum> is 0, returns a random integer 0 .. ULONG_MAX
+If <maximum> is not 0, returns a random integer 0 .. <maximum>
+======Examples:======
+<file>
+$rand(50)            returns a random number less than 50
+$rand(0)             returns a random number less than ULONG_MAX
+$rand()              returns nothing
+</file>
+======History:======
+This function first appeared in ircII.