Oracle Built-in Packages

DBMS_RANDOM: Generating Random Numbers (Oracle8 Only)

The DBMS_RANDOM package provides a built-in random number generator utility. Oracle Corporation suggests that this package will run faster than generators written in PL/SQL itself because DBMS_RANDOM calls Oracle’s internal random number generator.

Oracle describes this package as a relatively simple interface for a random number generator, limited to returning an 8-digit number. They recommend that you use the DBMS_CRYPTO_TOOLKIT package if you need a more sophisticated engine with more options. This package is available with Trusted Oracle.^[16]

As with any random number generator, before you can obtain any random numbers from DBMS_RANDOM, you must first initialize the package by providing a seed number with DBMS_RANDOM’s INITIALIZE procedure. You can later reseed the random number generator via RANDOM_SEED. When you need a random number, issue a call to the RANDOM, which returns a random number for your use. Finally, when you no longer need to use the random number generator, terminate DBMS_RANDOM via the TERMINATE procedure.

Getting Started with DBMS_RANDOM

The DBMS_RANDOM package is created when the Oracle database is first installed. The dbmsrand.sql script found in the built-in packages source code directory (described in Chapter 1) contains the source code for this package’s specification. This script is called by catoctk.sql , which contains the scripts needed to use the PL/SQL Cryptographic Toolkit Interface. The scripts ...