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authorHeikki Linnakangas <heikki.linnakangas@iki.fi>2013-10-24 15:39:30 +0300
committerHeikki Linnakangas <heikki.linnakangas@iki.fi>2013-10-24 15:40:23 +0300
commit75fdcec14543b60cc0c67483d8cc47d5c7adf1a8 (patch)
tree04760cd3d5e22bcfa4335af19fad424280b511b0 /doc/src
parent138184adc5f7c60c184972e4d23f8cdb32aed77d (diff)
downloadpostgresql-75fdcec14543b60cc0c67483d8cc47d5c7adf1a8.tar.gz
postgresql-75fdcec14543b60cc0c67483d8cc47d5c7adf1a8.zip
Improve documentation of random() function.
Move random() and setseed() to a separate table, to have them grouped together. Also add a notice that random() is not cryptographically secure. Original patch by Honza Horak, although I didn't use his version.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/src')
-rw-r--r--doc/src/sgml/func.sgml77
1 files changed, 50 insertions, 27 deletions
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
index e397386bf24..2b91e6e86a0 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
@@ -831,19 +831,6 @@
<row>
<entry>
<indexterm>
- <primary>random</primary>
- </indexterm>
- <literal><function>random()</function></literal>
- </entry>
- <entry><type>dp</type></entry>
- <entry>random value in the range 0.0 &lt;= x &lt; 1.0</entry>
- <entry><literal>random()</literal></entry>
- <entry></entry>
- </row>
-
- <row>
- <entry>
- <indexterm>
<primary>round</primary>
</indexterm>
<literal><function>round(<type>dp</type> or <type>numeric</type>)</function></literal>
@@ -865,20 +852,6 @@
<row>
<entry>
<indexterm>
- <primary>setseed</primary>
- </indexterm>
- <literal><function>setseed(<type>dp</type>)</function></literal>
- </entry>
- <entry><type>void</type></entry>
- <entry>set seed for subsequent <literal>random()</literal> calls (value between -1.0 and
- 1.0, inclusive)</entry>
- <entry><literal>setseed(0.54823)</literal></entry>
- <entry></entry>
- </row>
-
- <row>
- <entry>
- <indexterm>
<primary>sign</primary>
</indexterm>
<literal><function>sign(<type>dp</type> or <type>numeric</type>)</function></literal>
@@ -952,6 +925,56 @@
</table>
<para>
+ <xref linkend="functions-math-random-table"> shows functions for
+ generating random numbers.
+ </para>
+
+ <table id="functions-math-random-table">
+ <title>Random Functions</title>
+
+ <tgroup cols="3">
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Function</entry>
+ <entry>Return Type</entry>
+ <entry>Description</entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry>
+ <indexterm>
+ <primary>random</primary>
+ </indexterm>
+ <literal><function>random()</function></literal>
+ </entry>
+ <entry><type>dp</type></entry>
+ <entry>random value in the range 0.0 &lt;= x &lt; 1.0</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>
+ <indexterm>
+ <primary>setseed</primary>
+ </indexterm>
+ <literal><function>setseed(<type>dp</type>)</function></literal>
+ </entry>
+ <entry><type>void</type></entry>
+ <entry>set seed for subsequent <literal>random()</literal> calls (value between -1.0 and
+ 1.0, inclusive)</entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+
+ <para>
+ The characteristics of the values returned by
+ <literal><function>random()</function></literal> depend
+ on the system implementation. It is not suitable for cryptographic
+ applications; see <xref linkend="pgcrypto"> module for an alternative.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
Finally, <xref linkend="functions-math-trig-table"> shows the
available trigonometric functions. All trigonometric functions
take arguments and return values of type <type>double