Data::Random(3pm)

📦

version 0.15 · 6 versions

0.15 · ubuntu stonking (latest)
0.15 · arch rolling
0.13 · fedora 43
0.14 · fedora 44
0.14 · ubuntu resolute
0.13 · debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble

💖 Data::Random — the perl module that literally makes stuff up 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the manpage for Data::Random (that's the 3pm perl manual page, iykyk) — the module you call when you need random data and you're too iconic to type it out yourself. It's a perl module, it's been around since the year 2000, and it is serving.

✨ NAME ✨

Data::Random — a Perl module to generate random data. That's it, that's the whole vibe. 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

here's the whole thing, exactly as it comes, no notes:

use Data::Random qw(:all);

my @random_words = rand_words( size => 10 );

my @random_chars = rand_chars( set => 'all', min => 5, max => 8 );
my $string       = rand_chars( set => 'all', min => 5, max => 8 );

my @random_set = rand_set( set => \@set, size => 5 );

my $random_enum = rand_enum( set => \@set );
my $random_enum = rand_enum( \@set ); # shortcut

my $random_date = rand_date();

my $random_time = rand_time();

my $random_datetime = rand_datetime();

open(my $file, ">", "rand_image.png") or die $!;
binmode($file);
print $file rand_image( bgcolor => [0, 0, 0] );
close($file);

look at that. look at her go. 🦋

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

A module used to generate random data. Useful mostly for test programs. So like — when your test fixtures are boring and you need chaos but ✨controlled✨ chaos, this is her. 🫶

👑 METHODS 👑

these are the main characters. one by one, no skipping, we are not doing that. 💖

🍓 rand_words()

returns a list of random words, pulled from a wordlist. parameters below, bestie:

wordlist — the path to the wordlist file. On Debian systems one can be found at /usr/share/dict/words. You can also optionally supply a Data::Random::WordList object to keep a persistent wordlist. The default is the wordlist distributed with this module.
min — the minimum number of words to return. The default is 1.
max — the maximum number of words to return. The default is 1.
size — the number of words to return. The default is 1. If you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention to.
shuffle — whether or not the words should be randomly shuffled. Set this to 0 if you don't want the words shuffled. The default is 1. Random::Data::WordList returns words in the order that they're viewed in the word list file, so shuffling will make sure that the results are a little more random.

💀 ngl that size-beats-min-and-max thing ripples through this whole entire manpage, so clock it now and you'll be fine forever.

🧚 rand_chars()

called in a list context it returns a list of random characters given a set of characters. In a scalar context it returns a string of random characters. parameters:

set — the set of characters to be used. This value can be either a reference to an array of strings, or one of the following:

alpha        - alphabetic characters: a-z, A-Z
upperalpha   - upper case alphabetic characters: A-Z
loweralpha   - lower case alphabetic characters: a-z
numeric      - numeric characters: 0-9
alphanumeric - alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9
char         - non-alphanumeric characters: # ~ ! @ $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + = - { } | : " < > ? / . ' ; ] [ \ `
misc         - same as 'char'
all          - all of the above

min — the minimum number of characters to return. The default is 0.
max — the maximum number of characters to return. The default is the size of the set.
size — the number of characters to return. The default is 1. If you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention to.
shuffle — whether or not the characters should be randomly shuffled. Set this to 0 if you want the characters to stay in the order received. The default is 1.

she does both list AND scalar context, she's versatile, she contains multitudes. ✨

🌈 rand_set()

returns a random set of elements given an initial set. parameters:

set — the set of strings to be used. This should be a reference to an array of strings.
min — the minimum number of strings to return. The default is 0.
max — the maximum number of strings to return. The default is the size of the set.
size — the number of strings to return. The default is 1. If you supply a value for 'size', then 'min' and 'max' aren't paid attention to.
shuffle — whether or not the strings should be randomly shuffled. Set this to 0 if you want the strings to stay in the order received. The default is 1.

🎀 rand_enum()

returns a single random element given an initial set. parameters:

set — the set of strings to be used. This should be a reference to an array of strings. The "set" key will be assumed if the array reference is passed as the only argument.

🫶 that last bit is the shortcut from the synopsis: rand_enum( \@set ) — you don't even have to say the word set. queen behavior.

🦋 rand_date()

returns a random date in the form "YYYY-MM-DD". 2-digit years are not currently supported. Efforts are made to make sure you're returned a truly valid date — ie, you'll never be returned the date February 31st. options below control the date range. examples, verbatim:

# returns a date somewhere in between the current date, and one year from the current date
$date = rand_date();

# returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and September 21, 1979
$date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21' );

# returns a date somewhere in between September 21, 1978 and the current date
$date = rand_date( min => '1978-9-21', max => 'now' );

# returns a date somewhere in between the current date and September 21, 2008
$date = rand_date( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21' );

parameters:

min — the minimum date to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current date. The default is the current date;
max — the maximum date to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current date. The default is one year from the minimum date;

⭐ rand_time()

returns a random time in the form "HH:MM:SS". 24 hour times are supported. options below control the time range. examples:

# returns a random 24-hr time (between 00:00:00 and 23:59:59)
$time = rand_time();

# returns a time somewhere in between 04:00:00 and the end of the day
$time = rand_time( min => '4:0:0' );

# returns a time somewhere in between 8:00:00 and the current time (if it's after 8:00)
$time = rand_time( min => '12:00:00', max => 'now' );

# returns a date somewhere in between the current time and the end of the day
$time = rand_time( min => 'now' );

parameters:

min — the minimum time to be returned. It should be in the form "HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current time. The default is 00:00:00;
max — the maximum time to be returned. It should be in the form "HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current time. The default is 23:59:59;

💜 rand_datetime()

returns a random date and time in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS". options below control the date/time range. examples:

# returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time, and one year from the current date/time
$datetime = rand_datetime();

# returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and 4:00 September 21, 1979
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0' );

# returns a date somewhere in between 4:00 September 21, 1978 and the current date
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => '1978-9-21 4:0:0', max => 'now' );

# returns a date somewhere in between the current date/time and the end of the day September 21, 2008
$datetime = rand_datetime( min => 'now', max => '2008-9-21 23:59:59' );

parameters:

min — the minimum date/time to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current date/time. The default is the current date/time;
max — the maximum date/time to be returned. It should be in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" or you can alternatively use the string "now" to represent the current date/time. The default is one year from the minimum date/time;

🔥 rand_image()

returns a random image. Currently only PNG images are supported. parameters:

minwidth — the minimum width of the image. The default is 1.
maxwidth — the maximum width of the image. The default is 100.
width — the width of the image. If you supply a value for 'width', then 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.
minheight — the minimum height of the image. The default is 1.
maxheight — the maximum height of the image. The default is 100.
height — the height of the image. If you supply a value for 'width', then 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth' aren't paid attention to.
minpixels — the minimum number of random pixels to display on the image. The default is 0.
maxpixels — the maximum number of random pixels to display on the image. The default is width * height.
pixels — the number of random pixels to display on the image. If you supply a value for 'pixels', then 'minpixels' and 'maxpixels' aren't paid attention to.
bgcolor — the background color of the image. The value must be a reference to an RGB array where each element is an integer between 0 and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).
fgcolor — the foreground color of the image. The value must be a reference to an RGB array where each element is an integer between 0 and 255 (eg. [ 55, 120, 255 ]).

🙈 heads up bestie: yes, the height description up there really does talk about 'width', 'minwidth' and 'maxwidth'. That's what the page says, we do not fix, we do not edit, we report. 💀

💎 VERSION 💎

0.12 — she's giving vintage but she still runs. ✨

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

Originally written by: Adekunle Olonoh

Currently maintained by: Buddy Burden (barefoot@cpan.org), starting with version 0.06

🌟 CREDITS 🌟

the girls that helped make her happen, in the original nesting:

Hiroki Chalfant
David Sarno
- Michiel Beijen

📜 COPYRIGHT 📜

Copyright (c) 2000-2011 Adekunle Olonoh. Copyright (c) 2011-2015 Buddy Burden. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

Data::Random::WordList

and that's the whole page, no cap. 💅 this perl manual page shipped as perl v5.40.1 and it's dated 2026-03-12 — so like, she's current, she's maintained, she ate and left no crumbs. go generate something random, bestie. 🦋⭐💖

📦 where this page comes from

ubuntu stonking: libdata-random-perl 0.15-1 · Artistic-1.0-Perl OR GPL-1.0-or-later
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-11-03: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms