RandomType

System Variable RandomType

This system variable selects which method to use for generating pseudo-random numbers used to generate random values for all probability distributions. The available algorithms are:

0: (The default) Minimal standard algorithm developed by Park & Miller:

Park, S.K., and K.W. Miller 1988, Communications of the ACM, vol 31, pp. 1192-1201

Press, W.H, S.A. Teukolsky, W.T. Vetterling, and B.P. Flannery, Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing, 2nd Ed. (Cambridge University Press).

Knuth, D.E. 1981, Seminumerical Algorithms, 2nd ed., vol. 2 of The Art of Computer Programming (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley)

1: L'Ecuyer's algorithm

L'Ecuyer, P. 1988, Communications of the ACM, vol. 31, pp. 742-774

2: Knuth's algorithm

There is seldom any reason to change the pseudo-random algorithm from the default minimal standard. But if you really want to, you can do so from the Typescript window. Press F12 to open the typescript window and type:

RandomType: 2

History

Prior to Analytica 5.0, you could change this from the Uncertainty Settings dialog, Advanced. This was removed in Analytica 5.0 to simplify the UI, since there really was never any need to change it.

See Also

• Random()
• RandomSeed