::: Area #157 (comp.sys.acorn.programmer)
Message: #28002 (Read 4 times, has 0 replies, 944 bytes)
Date   : Tue Jan 27 10:39:25 1998
From   : Laurence Tratt of fidonet#2:254/27.2
To     : All
Subject: Re: RND

Message-ID: <34CDB95D.4B18CF70@dcs.kcl.ac.uk>
Priv-Reply-To: tratt@dcs.kcl.ac.uk
Organization: King's College, London

Tony Hopstaken wrote:

> I'm looking for a BASIC routine that generates *reeal* random numbers.

This is a pretty vague question; in one sense, it is impossible for a
computer to generate *real* (or presumably reeal :)) random numbers. They're
all generated by formulae. However, in BASIC, what you want to do is seed
the algorithm:

  SYS "OS_ReadMonotonicTime" TO t
  temp = RND(-t)

which you should find gives you a different set of random numbers every time
you run your program. This is a better method than RND(-TIME), because
OS_ReadMonotonicTime counts the time since you pressed the on button your
machine, whereas TIME is the time since your last reset.
               ^^^^^^ - NOOOOO TIME gets set at RESET to the cs since 1900

Laurie

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