/xlv3/openssl/0.9.7e-sgipl1/work/0.9.7e-sgipl1/openssl-
0.9.7e/doc/crypto
Page 1 (printed 10/20/05)
BN_rand(3) 25/Sep/2002 (0.9.7e) BN_rand(3)
NAME
BN_rand, BN_pseudo_rand - generate pseudo-random number
SYNOPSIS
#include <openssl/bn.h>
int BN_rand(BIGNUM *rnd, int bits, int top, int bottom);
int BN_pseudo_rand(BIGNUM *rnd, int bits, int top, int bottom);
int BN_rand_range(BIGNUM *rnd, BIGNUM *range);
int BN_pseudo_rand_range(BIGNUM *rnd, BIGNUM *range);
DESCRIPTION
BN_rand() generates a cryptographically strong pseudo-random
number of bits bits in length and stores it in rnd. If top
is -1, the most significant bit of the random number can be
zero. If top is 0, it is set to 1, and if top is 1, the two
most significant bits of the number will be set to 1, so
that the product of two such random numbers will always have
2*bits length. If bottom is true, the number will be odd.
BN_pseudo_rand() does the same, but pseudo-random numbers
generated by this function are not necessarily
unpredictable. They can be used for non-cryptographic
purposes and for certain purposes in cryptographic
protocols, but usually not for key generation etc.
BN_rand_range() generates a cryptographically strong
pseudo-random number rnd in the range 0 <lt>= rnd < range.
BN_pseudo_rand_range() does the same, but is based on
BN_pseudo_rand(), and hence numbers generated by it are not
necessarily unpredictable.
The PRNG must be seeded prior to calling BN_rand() or
BN_rand_range().
RETURN VALUES
The functions return 1 on success, 0 on error. The error
codes can be obtained by ERR_get_error(3).
SEE ALSO
bn(3), ERR_get_error(3), rand(3), RAND_add(3), RAND_bytes(3)
HISTORY
BN_rand() is available in all versions of SSLeay and
OpenSSL. BN_pseudo_rand() was added in OpenSSL 0.9.5. The
top == -1 case and the function BN_rand_range() were added
in OpenSSL 0.9.6a. BN_pseudo_rand_range() was added in
OpenSSL 0.9.6c.
Page 1 (printed 10/20/05)
BN_rand(3) 25/Sep/2002 (0.9.7e) BN_rand(3)
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