openssl/doc/crypto/RAND_bytes.pod
Viktor Dukhovni 98186eb4e4 Backwards-compatibility subject to OPENSSL_API_COMPAT
Provide backwards-compatiblity for functions, macros and include
files if OPENSSL_API_COMPAT is either not defined or defined less
than the version number of the release in which the feature was
deprecated.

Reviewed-by: Richard Levitte <levitte@openssl.org>
2016-01-07 20:53:18 -05:00

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=pod
=head1 NAME
RAND_bytes, RAND_pseudo_bytes - generate random data
=head1 SYNOPSIS
#include <openssl/rand.h>
int RAND_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);
Deprecated:
#if OPENSSL_API_COMPAT < 0x10100000L
int RAND_pseudo_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);
#endif
=head1 DESCRIPTION
RAND_bytes() puts B<num> cryptographically strong pseudo-random bytes
into B<buf>. An error occurs if the PRNG has not been seeded with
enough randomness to ensure an unpredictable byte sequence.
RAND_pseudo_bytes() has been deprecated. Users should use RAND_bytes() instead.
RAND_pseudo_bytes() puts B<num> pseudo-random bytes into B<buf>.
Pseudo-random byte sequences generated by RAND_pseudo_bytes() will be
unique if they are of sufficient length, but are not necessarily
unpredictable. They can be used for non-cryptographic purposes and for
certain purposes in cryptographic protocols, but usually not for key
generation etc.
The contents of B<buf> is mixed into the entropy pool before retrieving
the new pseudo-random bytes unless disabled at compile time (see FAQ).
=head1 RETURN VALUES
RAND_bytes() returns 1 on success, 0 otherwise. The error code can be
obtained by L<ERR_get_error(3)>. RAND_pseudo_bytes() returns 1 if the
bytes generated are cryptographically strong, 0 otherwise. Both
functions return -1 if they are not supported by the current RAND
method.
=head1 SEE ALSO
L<rand(3)>, L<ERR_get_error(3)>,
L<RAND_add(3)>
=cut