Data::Random(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation					 Data::Random(3pm)

NAME

       Data::Random - Perl module to generate random data

SYNOPSIS

	 use Data::Random qw(:all);

	 my @random_words = rand_words( size => 10 );

	 my @random_chars = rand_chars( set => 'all', min => 5, max => 8 );

	 my @random_set = rand_set( set => @set, size => 5 );

	 my $random_enum = rand_enum( set => @set );

	 my $random_date = rand_date();

	 my $random_time = rand_time();

	 my $random_datetime = rand_datetime();

	 open(FILE, ">rand_image.png") or die $!;
	 binmode(FILE);
	 print FILE rand_image( bgcolor => [0, 0, 0] );
	 close(FILE);

DESCRIPTION

       A module used to generate random data.  Useful mostly for test programs.

METHODS

   rand_words()
       This returns a list of random words given a wordlist.  See below for possible parameters.

       o   wordlist - the path to the wordlist file.  On Debian systems one can be found at /usr/share/dict/words.  You can also optionally supply
	   a Data::Random::WordList object to keep a persistent wordlist.  The default is the wordlist distributed with this module.

       o   min - the minimum number of words to return.  The default is 1.

       o   max - the maximum number of words to return.  The default is 1.

       o   size - the number of words to return.  The default is 1.  If you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention
	   to.

       o   shuffle - whether or not the words should be randomly shuffled.  Set this to 0 if you don't want the words shuffled.  The default is 1.
	   Random::Data::WordList returns words in the order that they're viewed in the word list file, so shuffling will make sure that the
	   results are a little more random.

   rand_chars()
       This returns a list of random characters given a set of characters.  See below for possible parameters.

       o   set - the set of characters to be used.  This value can be either a reference to an array of strings, or one of the following:

	       alpha	    - alphabetic characters: a-z, A-Z
	       upperalpha   - upper case alphabetic characters: A-Z
	       loweralpha   - lower case alphabetic characters: a-z
	       numeric	    - numeric characters: 0-9
	       alphanumeric - alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9
	       char	    - non-alphanumeric characters: # ~ ! @ $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + = - { } | : " < > ? / . ' ; ] [  `
	       all	    - all of the above

       o   min - the minimum number of characters to return.  The default is 0.

       o   max - the maximum number of characters to return.  The default is the size of the set.

       o   size - the number of characters to return.  The default is 1.  If you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid
	   attention to.

       o   shuffle - whether or not the characters should be randomly shuffled.  Set this to 0 if you want the characters to stay in the order
	   received.  The default is 1.

   rand_set()
       This returns a random set of elements given an initial set.  See below for possible parameters.

       o   set - the set of strings to be used.  This should be a reference to an array of strings.

       o   min - the minimum number of strings to return.  The default is 0.

       o   max - the maximum number of strings to return.  The default is the size of the set.

       o   size - the number of strings to return.  The default is 1.  If you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid
	   attention to.

       o   shuffle - whether or not the strings should be randomly shuffled.  Set this to 0 if you want the strings to stay in the order received.
	   The default is 1.

   rand_enum()
       This returns a random element given an initial set.  See below for possible parameters.

       o   set - the set of strings to be used.  This should be a reference to an array of strings.

   rand_date()
       This returns a random date in the form "YYYY-MM-DD".  2-digit years are not currently supported.  Efforts are made to make sure you're
       returned a truly valid date - ie, you'll never be returned the date February 31st.  See the options below to find out how to control the
       date range.  Here are a few examples:

	   # returns a date somewhere in between the current date, and one year from the current date
	   $date = rand_date();

	   # returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and September 21, 1979
	   $date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21' );

	   # returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and the current date
	   $date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21', max => 'now' );

	   # returns a date somewhere in between the current date and September 21, 2008
	   $date = rand_date( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21' );

       See below for possible parameters.

       o   min - the minimum date to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent
	   the current date.  The default is the current date;

       o   max - the maximum date to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent
	   the current date.  The default is one year from the minimum date;

   rand_time()
       This returns a random time in the form "HH:MM:SS".  24 hour times are supported.  See the options below to find out how to control the time
       range.  Here are a few examples:

	   # returns a random 24-hr time (between 00:00:00 and 23:59:59)
	   $time = rand_time();

	   # returns a time somewhere in between 04:00:00 and the end of the day
	   $time = rand_time( min => '4:0:0' );

	   # returns a time somewhere in between 8:00:00 and the current time (if it's after 8:00)
	   $time = rand_time( min => '12:00:00', max => 'now' );

	   # returns a date somewhere in between the current time and the end of the day
	   $time = rand_time( min => 'now' );

       See below for possible parameters.

       o   min - the minimum time to be returned. It should be in the form "HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent
	   the current time.  The default is 00:00:00;

       o   max - the maximum time to be returned. It should be in the form "HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent
	   the current time.  The default is 23:59:59;

   rand_datetime()
       This returns a random date and time in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS".  See the options below to find out how to control the date/time
       range.  Here are a few examples:

	   # returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time, and one year from the current date/time
	   $datetime = rand_datetime();

	   # returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and 4:00 September 21, 1979
	   $datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0' );

	   # returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and the current date
	   $datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0', max => 'now' );

	   # returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time and the end of the day September 21, 2008
	   $datetime = rand_datetime( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21 23:59:59' );

       See below for possible parameters.

       o   min - the minimum date/time to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string
	   "now" to represent the current date/time.  The default is the current date/time;

       o   max - the maximum date/time to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string
	   "now" to represent the current date/time.  The default is one year from the minimum date/time;

   rand_image()
       This returns a random image.  Currently only PNG images are supported.  See below for possible parameters.

       o   minwidth - the minimum width of the image.  The default is 1.

       o   maxwidth - the maximum width of the image.  The default is 100.

       o   width - the width of the image.  If you supply a value for 'width', then 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.

       o   minheight - the minimum height of the image.  The default is 1.

       o   maxheight - the maximum height of the image.  The default is 100.

       o   height - the height of the image.  If you supply a value for 'width', then 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.

       o   minpixels - the minimum number of random pixels to display on the image.  The default is 0.

       o   maxpixels - the maximum number of random pixels to display on the image.  The default is width * height.

       o   pixels - the number of random pixels to display on the image.  If you supply a value for 'pixels', then 'minpixels' and 'maxpixels'
	   aren't paid attention to.

       o   bgcolor - the background color of the image.  The value must be a reference to an RGB array where each element is an integer between 0
	   and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).

       o   fgcolor - the foreground color of the image.  The value must be a reference to an RGB array where each element is an integer between 0
	   and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).

VERSION

       0.07

AUTHOR

       Originally written by: Adekunle Olonoh

       Currently maintained by: Buddy Burden (barefoot@cpan.org), starting with version 0.06

CREDITS

	   Hiroki Chalfant
	   David Sarno

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2000-2011 Adekunle Olonoh.  All rights reserved.  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

       Data::Random::WordList

perl v5.14.2							    2012-06-04							 Data::Random(3pm)