GWBASIC User's Manual

GW-BASIC User's Guide
RANDOMIZE Statement
Purpose:
To reseed the random number generator.
Syntax:
RANDOMIZE [expression]
RANDOMIZE TIMER
Comments:
If expression is omitted, GW-BASIC suspends program execution and asks for a value by
displaying the following line:
Random number seed (-32768 to 32767)?
If the random number generator is not reseeded, the RND function returns the same sequence of
random numbers each time the program is run.
To change the sequence of random numbers every time the program is run, place a RANDOMIZE
statement at the beginning of the program, and change the argument with each run (see RND
function).
RANDOMIZE with no arguments will prompt you for a new seed. RANDOMIZE [expression]
will not force floating-point values to integer. expression may be any numeric formula.
To get a new random seed without prompting, use the new numeric TIMER function as follows:
RANDOMIZE TIMER
Example 1:
The internal clock can be set at intervals.
10 RANDOMIZE TIMER
20 FOR I=1 to 5
30 PRINT RND;
40 NEXT I
RUN
.88598 .484668 .586328 .119426 .709225
RUN
.803506 .162462 .929364 .292443 .322921
Example 2:
The internal clock can be used for random number seed.
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