Random number formatter.
Formats generated random numbers in many manners. When 'random/formatter' is required, several methods are added to empty core module Random::Formatter, making them available as Random’s instance and module methods.
Standard library SecureRandom is also extended with the module, and the methods described below are available as a module methods in it.
Examples
Generate random hexadecimal strings:
require 'random/formatter' prng = Random.new prng.hex(10) #=> "52750b30ffbc7de3b362" prng.hex(10) #=> "92b15d6c8dc4beb5f559" prng.hex(13) #=> "39b290146bea6ce975c37cfc23" # or just Random.hex #=> "1aed0c631e41be7f77365415541052ee"
Generate random base64 strings:
prng.base64(10) #=> "EcmTPZwWRAozdA==" prng.base64(10) #=> "KO1nIU+p9DKxGg==" prng.base64(12) #=> "7kJSM/MzBJI+75j8" Random.base64(4) #=> "bsQ3fQ=="
Generate random binary strings:
prng.random_bytes(10) #=> "\016\t{\370g\310pbr\301" prng.random_bytes(10) #=> "\323U\030TO\234\357\020\a\337" Random.random_bytes(6) #=> "\xA1\xE6Lr\xC43"
Generate alphanumeric strings:
prng.alphanumeric(10) #=> "S8baxMJnPl" prng.alphanumeric(10) #=> "aOxAg8BAJe" Random.alphanumeric #=> "TmP9OsJHJLtaZYhP"
Generate UUIDs:
prng.uuid #=> "2d931510-d99f-494a-8c67-87feb05e1594" prng.uuid #=> "bad85eb9-0713-4da7-8d36-07a8e4b00eab" Random.uuid #=> "f14e0271-de96-45cc-8911-8910292a42cd"
All methods are available in the standard library SecureRandom, too:
SecureRandom.hex #=> "05b45376a30c67238eb93b16499e50cf"
Generate a random number in the given range as Random does
prng.random_number #=> 0.5816771641321361 prng.random_number(1000) #=> 485 prng.random_number(1..6) #=> 3 prng.rand #=> 0.5816771641321361 prng.rand(1000) #=> 485 prng.rand(1..6) #=> 3
The default character list for alphanumeric.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 368
def alphanumeric(n = nil, chars: ALPHANUMERIC)
n = 16 if n.nil?
choose(chars, n)
end
Generate a random alphanumeric string.
The argument n specifies the length, in characters, of the alphanumeric string to be generated. The argument chars specifies the character list which the result is consist of.
If n is not specified or is nil, 16 is assumed. It may be larger in the future.
The result may contain A-Z, a-z and 0-9, unless chars is specified.
require 'random/formatter' Random.alphanumeric #=> "2BuBuLf3WfSKyQbR" # or prng = Random.new prng.alphanumeric(10) #=> "i6K93NdqiH" Random.alphanumeric(4, chars: [*"0".."9"]) #=> "2952" # or prng = Random.new prng.alphanumeric(10, chars: [*"!".."/"]) #=> ",.,++%/''."
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 114
def base64(n=nil)
[random_bytes(n)].pack("m0")
end
Generate a random base64 string.
The argument n specifies the length, in bytes, of the random number to be generated. The length of the result string is about 4/3 of n.
If n is not specified or is nil, 16 is assumed. It may be larger in the future.
The result may contain A-Z, a-z, 0-9, “+”, “/” and “=”.
require 'random/formatter' Random.base64 #=> "/2BuBuLf3+WfSKyQbRcc/A==" # or prng = Random.new prng.base64 #=> "6BbW0pxO0YENxn38HMUbcQ=="
See RFC 3548 for the definition of base64.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 313
def choose(source, n)
size = source.size
m = 1
limit = size
while limit * size <= 0x100000000
limit *= size
m += 1
end
result = ''.dup
while m <= n
rs = random_number(limit)
is = rs.digits(size)
(m-is.length).times { is << 0 }
result << source.values_at(*is).join('')
n -= m
end
if 0 < n
rs = random_number(limit)
is = rs.digits(size)
if is.length < n
(n-is.length).times { is << 0 }
else
is.pop while n < is.length
end
result.concat source.values_at(*is).join('')
end
result
end
Generate a string that randomly draws from a source array of characters.
The argument source specifies the array of characters from which to generate the string. The argument n specifies the length, in characters, of the string to be generated.
The result may contain whatever characters are in the source array.
require 'random/formatter' prng.choose([*'l'..'r'], 16) #=> "lmrqpoonmmlqlron" prng.choose([*'0'..'9'], 5) #=> "27309"
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 295
def gen_random(n)
self.bytes(n)
end
Internal interface to Random; Generate random data n bytes.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 92
def hex(n=nil)
random_bytes(n).unpack1("H*")
end
Generate a random hexadecimal string.
The argument n specifies the length, in bytes, of the random number to be generated. The length of the resulting hexadecimal string is twice of n.
If n is not specified or is nil, 16 is assumed. It may be larger in the future.
The result may contain 0-9 and a-f.
require 'random/formatter' Random.hex #=> "eb693ec8252cd630102fd0d0fb7c3485" # or prng = Random.new prng.hex #=> "91dc3bfb4de5b11d029d376634589b61"
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 71
def random_bytes(n=nil)
n = n ? n.to_int : 16
gen_random(n)
end
Generate a random binary string.
The argument n specifies the length of the result string.
If n is not specified or is nil, 16 is assumed. It may be larger in future.
The result may contain any byte: “x00” - “xff”.
require 'random/formatter' Random.random_bytes #=> "\xD8\\\xE0\xF4\r\xB2\xFC*WM\xFF\x83\x18\xF45\xB6" # or prng = Random.new prng.random_bytes #=> "m\xDC\xFC/\a\x00Uf\xB2\xB2P\xBD\xFF6S\x97"
static VALUE
rand_random_number(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE obj)
{
rb_random_t *rnd = try_get_rnd(obj);
VALUE v = rand_random(argc, argv, obj, rnd);
if (NIL_P(v)) v = rand_random(0, 0, obj, rnd);
else if (!v) invalid_argument(argv[0]);
return v;
}
Generates formatted random number from raw random bytes. See Random#rand.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 145
def urlsafe_base64(n=nil, padding=false)
s = [random_bytes(n)].pack("m0")
s.tr!("+/", "-_")
s.delete!("=") unless padding
s
end
Generate a random URL-safe base64 string.
The argument n specifies the length, in bytes, of the random number to be generated. The length of the result string is about 4/3 of n.
If n is not specified or is nil, 16 is assumed. It may be larger in the future.
The boolean argument padding specifies the padding. If it is false or nil, padding is not generated. Otherwise padding is generated. By default, padding is not generated because “=” may be used as a URL delimiter.
The result may contain A-Z, a-z, 0-9, “-” and “_”. “=” is also used if padding is true.
require 'random/formatter' Random.urlsafe_base64 #=> "b4GOKm4pOYU_-BOXcrUGDg" # or prng = Random.new prng.urlsafe_base64 #=> "UZLdOkzop70Ddx-IJR0ABg" prng.urlsafe_base64(nil, true) #=> "i0XQ-7gglIsHGV2_BNPrdQ==" prng.urlsafe_base64(nil, true) #=> "-M8rLhr7JEpJlqFGUMmOxg=="
See RFC 3548 for the definition of URL-safe base64.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 169
def uuid
ary = random_bytes(16).unpack("NnnnnN")
ary[2] = (ary[2] & 0x0fff) | 0x4000
ary[3] = (ary[3] & 0x3fff) | 0x8000
"%08x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%04x%08x" % ary
end
Generate a random v4 UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier).
require 'random/formatter' Random.uuid #=> "2d931510-d99f-494a-8c67-87feb05e1594" Random.uuid #=> "bad85eb9-0713-4da7-8d36-07a8e4b00eab" # or prng = Random.new prng.uuid #=> "62936e70-1815-439b-bf89-8492855a7e6b"
The version 4 UUID is purely random (except the version). It doesn’t contain meaningful information such as MAC addresses, timestamps, etc.
The result contains 122 random bits (15.25 random bytes).
See RFC4122 for details of UUID.
# File tmp/rubies/ruby-3.3.0/lib/random/formatter.rb, line 247
def uuid_v7(extra_timestamp_bits: 0)
case (extra_timestamp_bits = Integer(extra_timestamp_bits))
when 0 # min timestamp precision
ms = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_REALTIME, :millisecond)
rand = random_bytes(10)
rand.setbyte(0, rand.getbyte(0) & 0x0f | 0x70) # version
rand.setbyte(2, rand.getbyte(2) & 0x3f | 0x80) # variant
"%08x-%04x-%s" % [
(ms & 0x0000_ffff_ffff_0000) >> 16,
(ms & 0x0000_0000_0000_ffff),
rand.unpack("H4H4H12").join("-")
]
when 12 # max timestamp precision
ms, ns = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_REALTIME, :nanosecond)
.divmod(1_000_000)
extra_bits = ns * 4096 / 1_000_000
rand = random_bytes(8)
rand.setbyte(0, rand.getbyte(0) & 0x3f | 0x80) # variant
"%08x-%04x-7%03x-%s" % [
(ms & 0x0000_ffff_ffff_0000) >> 16,
(ms & 0x0000_0000_0000_ffff),
extra_bits,
rand.unpack("H4H12").join("-")
]
when (0..12) # the generic version is slower than the special cases above
rand_a, rand_b1, rand_b2, rand_b3 = random_bytes(10).unpack("nnnN")
rand_mask_bits = 12 - extra_timestamp_bits
ms, ns = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_REALTIME, :nanosecond)
.divmod(1_000_000)
"%08x-%04x-%04x-%04x-%04x%08x" % [
(ms & 0x0000_ffff_ffff_0000) >> 16,
(ms & 0x0000_0000_0000_ffff),
0x7000 |
((ns * (1 << extra_timestamp_bits) / 1_000_000) << rand_mask_bits) |
rand_a & ((1 << rand_mask_bits) - 1),
0x8000 | (rand_b1 & 0x3fff),
rand_b2,
rand_b3
]
else
raise ArgumentError, "extra_timestamp_bits must be in 0..12"
end
end
Generate a random v7 UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier).
require 'random/formatter' Random.uuid_v7 # => "0188d4c3-1311-7f96-85c7-242a7aa58f1e" Random.uuid_v7 # => "0188d4c3-16fe-744f-86af-38fa04c62bb5" Random.uuid_v7 # => "0188d4c3-1af8-764f-b049-c204ce0afa23" Random.uuid_v7 # => "0188d4c3-1e74-7085-b14f-ef6415dc6f31" # |<--sorted-->| |<----- random ---->| # or prng = Random.new prng.uuid_v7 # => "0188ca51-5e72-7950-a11d-def7ff977c98"
The version 7 UUID starts with the least significant 48 bits of a 64 bit Unix timestamp (milliseconds since the epoch) and fills the remaining bits with random data, excluding the version and variant bits.
This allows version 7 UUIDs to be sorted by creation time. Time ordered UUIDs can be used for better database index locality of newly inserted records, which may have a significant performance benefit compared to random data inserts.
The result contains 74 random bits (9.25 random bytes).
Note that this method cannot be made reproducable because its output includes not only random bits but also timestamp.
See draft-ietf-uuidrev-rfc4122bis for details of UUIDv7.
Monotonicity
UUIDv7 has millisecond precision by default, so multiple UUIDs created within the same millisecond are not issued in monotonically increasing order. To create UUIDs that are time-ordered with sub-millisecond precision, up to 12 bits of additional timestamp may added with extra_timestamp_bits. The extra timestamp precision comes at the expense of random bits. Setting extra_timestamp_bits: 12 provides ~244ns of precision, but only 62 random bits (7.75 random bytes).
prng = Random.new Array.new(4) { prng.uuid_v7(extra_timestamp_bits: 12) } # => ["0188d4c7-13da-74f9-8b53-22a786ffdd5a", "0188d4c7-13da-753b-83a5-7fb9b2afaeea", "0188d4c7-13da-754a-88ea-ac0baeedd8db", "0188d4c7-13da-7557-83e1-7cad9cda0d8d"] # |<--- sorted --->| |<-- random --->| Array.new(4) { prng.uuid_v7(extra_timestamp_bits: 8) } # => ["0188d4c7-3333-7a95-850a-de6edb858f7e", "0188d4c7-3333-7ae8-842e-bc3a8b7d0cf9", # <- out of order "0188d4c7-3333-7ae2-995a-9f135dc44ead", # <- out of order "0188d4c7-3333-7af9-87c3-8f612edac82e"] # |<--- sorted -->||<---- random --->|
Any rollbacks of the system clock will break monotonicity. UUIDv7 is based on UTC, which excludes leap seconds and can rollback the clock. To avoid this, the system clock can synchronize with an NTP server configured to use a “leap smear” approach. NTP or PTP will also be needed to synchronize across distributed nodes.
Counters and other mechanisms for stronger guarantees of monotonicity are not implemented. Applications with stricter requirements should follow Section 6.2 of the specification.