HP C/iX Library Reference Manual (30026-90004)

324 Chapter5

HP C/iX Library Function Descriptions

srand

Sets a starting point for subsequent calls to rand().

Syntax

#include <stdlib.h>

void srand (unsigned int

seed

);

Parameters

seed

A value that sets the starting point for subsequent calls to the rand

function.

Return Values

None.

Description

The srand function causes subsequent calls to rand() to return a new random sequence

based on the value passed in

seed

. The sequence of pseudo-random numbers that rand()

produces is always the same for any given

seed

. Thus, given

seed n

, the random sequence

is always the same.

If srand() is not used to initialize the random number generator to a particular starting

point, rand() returns the same sequence of numbers as when srand() is ﬁrst called with a

seed value of one.