Random(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Random(3)NAMEData::Random - Perl module to generate random data
SYNOPSIS
use Data::Random qw(:all);
my @random_words = rand_words( size => 10 );
my @random_chars = rand_chars( set => 'all', min => 5, max => 8 );
my @random_set = rand_set( set => \@set, size => 5 );
my $random_enum = rand_enum( set => \@set );
my $random_date = rand_date();
my $random_time = rand_time();
my $random_datetime = rand_datetime();
open(FILE, ">rand_image.png") or die $!;
binmode(FILE);
print FILE rand_image( bgcolor => [0, 0, 0] );
close(FILE);
DESCRIPTION
A module used to generate random data. Useful mostly for test pro-
grams.
METHODSrand_words()
This returns a list of random words given a wordlist. See below for
possible parameters.
o wordlist - the path to the wordlist file. A lot of systems have
one at /usr/dict/words. You can also optionally supply a
Data::Random::WordList object to keep a persistent wordlist. The
default is the wordlist distributed with this module.
o min - the minimum number of words to return. The default is 1.
o max - the maximum number of words to return. The default is 1.
o size - the number of words to return. The default is 1. If you
supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid atten-
tion to.
o shuffle - whether or not the words should be randomly shuffled.
Set this to 0 if you don't want the words shuffled. The default is
1. Random::Data::WordList returns words in the order that they're
viewed in the word list file, so shuffling will make sure that the
results are a little more random.
rand_chars()
This returns a list of random characters given a set of characters.
See below for possible parameters.
o set - the set of characters to be used. This value can be either a
reference to an array of strings, or one of the following:
alpha - alphabetic characters: a-z, A-Z
upperalpha - upper case alphabetic characters: A-Z
loweralpha - lower case alphabetic characters: a-z
numeric - numeric characters: 0-9
alphanumeric - alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9
char - non-alphanumeric characters: # ~ ! @ $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + = - { } | : " < > ? / . ' ; ] [ \ `
all - all of the above
o min - the minimum number of characters to return. The default is
0.
o max - the maximum number of characters to return. The default is
the size of the set.
o size - the number of characters to return. The default is 1. If
you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid
attention to.
o shuffle - whether or not the characters should be randomly shuf-
fled. Set this to 0 if you want the characters to stay in the
order received. The default is 1.
rand_set()
This returns a random set of elements given an initial set. See below
for possible parameters.
o set - the set of strings to be used. This should be a reference to
an array of strings.
o min - the minimum number of strings to return. The default is 0.
o max - the maximum number of strings to return. The default is the
size of the set.
o size - the number of strings to return. The default is 1. If you
supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid atten-
tion to.
o shuffle - whether or not the strings should be randomly shuffled.
Set this to 0 if you want the strings to stay in the order
received. The default is 1.
rand_enum()
This returns a random element given an initial set. See below for pos-
sible parameters.
o set - the set of strings to be used. This should be a reference to
an array of strings.
rand_date()
This returns a random date in the form "YYYY-MM-DD". 2-digit years are
not currently supported. Efforts are made to make sure you're returned
a truly valid date--ie, you'll never be returned the date February
31st. See the options below to find out how to control the date range.
Here are a few examples:
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date, and one year from the current date
$date = rand_date();
# returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and September 21, 1979
$date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21' );
# returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and the current date
$date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21', max => 'now' );
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date and September 21, 2008
$date = rand_date( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21' );
See below for possible parameters.
o min - the minimum date to be returned. It should be in the form
"YYYY-MM-DD" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to rep-
resent the current date. The default is the current date;
o max - the maximum date to be returned. It should be in the form
"YYYY-MM-DD" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to rep-
resent the current date. The default is one year from the minimum
date;
rand_time()
This returns a random time in the form "HH:MM:SS". 24 hour times are
supported. See the options below to find out how to control the time
range. Here are a few examples:
# returns a random 24-hr time (between 00:00:00 and 23:59:59)
$time = rand_time();
# returns a time somewhere in between 04:00:00 and the end of the day
$time = rand_time( min => '4:0:0' );
# returns a time somewhere in between 8:00:00 and the current time (if it's after 8:00)
$time = rand_time( min => '12:00:00', max => 'now' );
# returns a date somewhere in between the current time and the end of the day
$time = rand_time( min => 'now' );
See below for possible parameters.
o min - the minimum time to be returned. It should be in the form
"HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to repre-
sent the current time. The default is 00:00:00;
o max - the maximum time to be returned. It should be in the form
"HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to repre-
sent the current time. The default is 23:59:59;
rand_datetime()
This returns a random date and time in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS".
See the options below to find out how to control the date/time range.
Here are a few examples:
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time, and one year from the current date/time
$datetime = rand_datetime();
# returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and 4:00 September 21, 1979
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0' );
# returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and the current date
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0', max => 'now' );
# returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time and the end of the day September 21, 2008
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21 23:59:59' );
See below for possible parameters.
o min - the minimum date/time to be returned. It should be in the
form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string
"now" to represent the current date/time. The default is the cur-
rent date/time;
o max - the maximum date/time to be returned. It should be in the
form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string
"now" to represent the current date/time. The default is one year
from the minimum date/time;
rand_image()
This returns a random image. Currently only PNG images are supported.
See below for possible parameters.
o minwidth - the minimum width of the image. The default is 1.
o maxwidth - the maximum width of the image. The default is 100.
o width - the width of the image. If you supply a value for 'width',
then 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.
o minheight - the minimum height of the image. The default is 1.
o maxheight - the maximum height of the image. The default is 100.
o height - the height of the image. If you supply a value for
'width', then 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.
o minpixels - the minimum number of random pixels to display on the
image. The default is 0.
o maxpixels - the maximum number of random pixels to display on the
image. The default is width * height.
o pixels - the number of random pixels to display on the image. If
you supply a value for 'pixels', then 'minpixels' and 'maxpixels'
aren't paid attention to.
o bgcolor - the background color of the image. The value must be a
reference to an RGB array where each element is an integer between
0 and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).
o fgcolor - the foreground color of the image. The value must be a
reference to an RGB array where each element is an integer between
0 and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).
VERSION
0.05
AUTHOR
Adekunle Olonoh, koolade@users.sourceforge.net
CREDITS
Hiroki Chalfant David Sarno
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2000 Adekunle Olonoh. All rights reserved. This program
is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
Data::Random::WordList
perl v5.8.8 2003-02-22 Random(3)
