Purpose

Returns a uniformly-distributed random number between 0 and 1,
using as a seed either the argument provided or, if none, the
Unix process number

Usage

rand [seed]

Arguments

seed = seed value for random number generator

Example

1) Return a random value

punaluu{lris}165

0.791128

punaluu{lris}162

0.228747
Note that the values differ because the process number (used
by default as the random generator's seed) changed.

2) Return a random value for a given seed

punaluu{lris}167

0.505545

punaluu{lris}168

0.505545
Note that the values are the same when the same seed is used.