/***********************************************************************
* Code listing from "Advanced Linux Programming," by CodeSourcery LLC  *
* Copyright (C) 2001 by New Riders Publishing                          *
* See COPYRIGHT for license information.                               *
***********************************************************************/

#include 
#include 
#include 
#include 
#include 

/* Return a random integer between MIN and MAX, inclusive.  Obtain
   randomness from /dev/random.  */

int random_number (int min, int max)
{
  /* Store a file descriptor opened to /dev/random in a static
     variable.  That way, we don't need to open the file every time
     this function is called.  */
  static int dev_random_fd = -1;

  char* next_random_byte;
  int bytes_to_read;
  unsigned random_value;

  /* Make sure MAX is greater than MIN.  */
  assert (max > min);

  /* If this is the first time this function is called, open a file
     descriptor to /dev/random.  */
  if (dev_random_fd == -1) {
    dev_random_fd = open ("/dev/random", O_RDONLY);
    assert (dev_random_fd != -1);
  }
  
  /* Read enough random bytes to fill an integer variable.  */
  next_random_byte = (char*) &random_value;
  bytes_to_read = sizeof (random_value);
  /* Loop until we've read enough bytes.  Since /dev/random is filled
     from user-generated actions, the read may block, and may only
     return a single random byte at a time.  */
  do {
    int bytes_read;
    bytes_read = read (dev_random_fd, next_random_byte, bytes_to_read);
    bytes_to_read -= bytes_read;
    next_random_byte += bytes_read;
  } while (bytes_to_read > 0);

  /* Compute a random number in the correct range.  */
  return min + (random_value % (max - min + 1));
}