RAND()

Purpose

Function to return a random number

Syntax

RAND([<expN>])

See Also

GETPID(), TMPNAM(), SYS()

Description

The RAND() function returns a number between 0 and 1 with 2 decimal places (or the number of decimal places specified by SET DECIMALS). Subsequent calls to RAND() will produce different numbers, but the sequence of numbers will be the same each time.

A seed can be specified in <expN>. Using the same positive value in <expN> and omitting it in subsequent calls to the RAND() function will return the same sequence of numbers. Using a negative value in <expN> creates a seed based on the system clock, so subsequent RAND() calls will produce a different sequence of values.

Example

? rand(-1)
      0.70
? rand()
      0.61