RANDOMNUMBERGENERATOR
Allows the user to obtain a sequence of pseudo-random numbers. The object maintains the random number generator seed in such a way that subsequent calls to GetRandomNumbers will guarentee that you don't get the same random numbers each time you ask for random numbers.
FANNING SOFTWARE CONSULTING David Fanning, Ph.D. 1645 Sheely Drive Fort Collins, CO 80526 USA Phone: 970-221-0438 E-mail: david@idlcoyote.com Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com
Utilities
Generate three random numbers. IDL> rng = Obj_New('RandomNumberGenerator', initialSeed) IDL> numberOfNumbersNeeded = 3 IDL> randomNumbers = rng -> GetRandomNumbers(numberOfNumbersNeeded) IDL> Print, randomNumbers 0.80952855 0.35878432 0.52150406 Generate a sequence of 8 random digits. IDL> Print, rng -> GetRandomDigits(8) 21855786
initialSeed: The initial seed for the random number generator. If undefined or absent, the number of seconds after 1 January 1970 is used.
randomNumbers -> GetRandomNumbers(d1, d2, d3, d4 d5, d6, d7, d8) randomDigits = obj -> GetRandomDigits(numDigets) obj -> SetSeed, seed
Written by David W. Fanning, 13 November 2009. Added GetRandomDigits method. 7 February 2010. DWF. Incorrect cleanup of the seed pointer fixed in the CLEANUP procedure. 25 February 2010, DWF.