How do I create a random alpha-numeric string in C

Question

I'd like to create a random string, consisting of alpha-numeric characters. I want to be able to be specify the length of the string.

How do I do this in C++?

Answer 1

I hope this helps someone.

Tested at https://www.codechef.com/ide with C++ 4.9.2

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <stdlib.h>     /* srand, rand */

using namespace std;

string RandomString(int len)
{
   srand(time(0));
   string str = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
   string newstr;
   int pos;
   while(newstr.size() != len) {
    pos = ((rand() % (str.size() - 1)));
    newstr += str.substr(pos,1);
   }
   return newstr;
}

int main()
{
   string random_str = RandomString(100);
   cout << "random_str : " << random_str << endl;
}

Output: random_str : DNAT1LAmbJYO0GvVo4LGqYpNcyK3eZ6t0IN3dYpHtRfwheSYipoZOf04gK7OwFIwXg2BHsSBMB84rceaTTCtBC0uZ8JWPdVxKXBd

Answer 2

 void gen_random(char *s, size_t len) {
     for (size_t i = 0; i < len; ++i) {
         int randomChar = rand()%(26+26+10);
         if (randomChar < 26)
             s[i] = 'a' + randomChar;
         else if (randomChar < 26+26)
             s[i] = 'A' + randomChar - 26;
         else
             s[i] = '0' + randomChar - 26 - 26;
     }
     s[len] = 0;
 }

Answer 3

Random string, every run file = different string

        auto randchar = []() -> char
    {
        const char charset[] =
            "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
            "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";

        const size_t max_index = (sizeof(charset) - 1);

        return charset[randomGenerator(0, max_index)];
    };
            std::string custom_string;
            size_t LENGTH_NAME = 6 // length of name
    generate_n(custom_string.begin(), LENGTH_NAME, randchar);

Answer 4

Something even simpler and more basic in case you're happy for your string to contain any printable characters:

#include <time.h>   // we'll use time for the seed
#include <string.h> // this is for strcpy

void randomString(int size, char* output) // pass the destination size and the destination itself
{
    srand(time(NULL)); // seed with time

    char src[size];
    size = rand() % size; // this randomises the size (optional)

    src[size] = '\0'; // start with the end of the string...

    // ...and work your way backwards
    while(--size > -1)
        src[size] = (rand() % 94) + 32; // generate a string ranging from the space character to ~ (tilde)

    strcpy(output, src); // store the random string
}

Answer 5

I just tested this, it works sweet and doesn't require a lookup table. rand_alnum() sort of forces out alphanumerics but because it selects 62 out of a possible 256 chars it isn't a big deal.

#include <cstdlib>   // for rand()
#include <cctype>    // for isalnum()   
#include <algorithm> // for back_inserter
#include <string>

char 
rand_alnum()
{
    char c;
    while (!std::isalnum(c = static_cast<char>(std::rand())))
        ;
    return c;
}


std::string 
rand_alnum_str (std::string::size_type sz)
{
    std::string s;
    s.reserve  (sz);
    generate_n (std::back_inserter(s), sz, rand_alnum);
    return s;
}

Answer 6

#include <random>
#include <iostream>

template<size_t N>
void genRandomString(char (&buffer)[N])
{
    std::random_device rd;  

    const char alphanumeric[] = {
        "0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
    };

    std::mt19937 eng(rd()); 
    std::uniform_int_distribution<> distr(0, 61); 

    for (auto& c : buffer)
        c = alphanumeric[distr(eng)];

    buffer[N] = '\0';
}

int main()
{
    char buffer[100]; // 99 is the string length
    genRandomString(buffer);

    std::cout << buffer << '\n';
    return 0;
}