Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!aplcen!bink
From: bink@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Ubben Greg)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: random numbers in a C shell script?
Summary: Code (but not algorithm) ideas
Message-ID: <1259@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu>
Date: 17 May 89 03:18:04 GMT
References: <1501@cmx.npac.syr.edu> <540@lakart.UUCP>
Reply-To: bink@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Greg Ubben)
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD
Lines: 22

In article <540@lakart.UUCP> dg@lakart.UUCP (David Goodenough) writes:
> ...
> @ rng = `date | tr : ' ' | awk '{ print $3 * $4 * $5 * $6}'` + $$
> ...

Not being qualified to play with the algorithm, I present instead
another way of doing the SAME thing (in Bourne shell):
	rng=`date +"%d %H*%M*%S*$$+p" | dc`
You'll probably want to throw in a MOD too.

Another idea:
	combine in the output of a TIME or TIMEX (something like
	"timex date 2>&1 | sed ... | dc")

Also, I'm not good at csh, but can't you just command substitute a
date +"..." right into the @ instead of making awk do the math?
Something like
	@ rng = `date +"%d * %H * %M * %S"` + $$
maybe with an EVAL thrown in for good measure?

						-- Greg Ubben
						   bink@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu