Swift 4.2+ seeding a random number generator

Question

I\'m trying to generate seeded random numbers with Swift 4.2+, with the Int.random() function, however there is no given implementation that allows for the random n

Answer 1

Here's alternative to the answer from RPatel99 that accounts GKRandom values range.

import GameKit

struct ArbitraryRandomNumberGenerator : RandomNumberGenerator {

    mutating func next() -> UInt64 {
        // GKRandom produces values in [INT32_MIN, INT32_MAX] range; hence we need two numbers to produce 64-bit value.
        let next1 = UInt64(bitPattern: Int64(gkrandom.nextInt()))
        let next2 = UInt64(bitPattern: Int64(gkrandom.nextInt()))
        return next1 ^ (next2 << 32)
    }

    init(seed: UInt64) {
        self.gkrandom = GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource(seed: seed)
    }

    private let gkrandom: GKRandom
}

Answer 2

So I used Martin R's suggestion to use GamePlayKit's GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource to make a class that conformed to the RandomNumberGenerator protocol, which I was able to use an instance of in functions like Int.random():

import GameplayKit

class SeededGenerator: RandomNumberGenerator {
    let seed: UInt64
    private let generator: GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource
    convenience init() {
        self.init(seed: 0)
    }
    init(seed: UInt64) {
        self.seed = seed
        generator = GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource(seed: seed)
    }
    func next<T>(upperBound: T) -> T where T : FixedWidthInteger, T : UnsignedInteger {
        return T(abs(generator.nextInt(upperBound: Int(upperBound))))
    }
    func next<T>() -> T where T : FixedWidthInteger, T : UnsignedInteger {
        return T(abs(generator.nextInt()))
    }
}

Usage:

// Make a random seed and store in a database
let seed = UInt64.random(in: UInt64.min ... UInt64.max)
var generator = Generator(seed: seed)
// Or if you just need the seeding ability for testing,
// var generator = Generator()
// uses a default seed of 0

let chars = ['a','b','c','d','e','f']
let randomChar = chars.randomElement(using: &generator)
let randomInt = Int.random(in: 0 ..< 1000, using: &generator)
// etc.

This gave me the flexibility and easy implementation that I needed by combining the seeding functionality of GKMersenneTwisterRandomSource and the simplicity of the standard library's random functions (like .randomElement() for arrays and .random() for Int, Bool, Double, etc.)

Answer 3

Looks like Swift's implementation of RandomNumberGenerator.next(using:) changed in 2019. This affects Collection.randomElement(using:) and causes it to always return the first element if your generator's next()->UInt64 implementation doesn't produce values uniformly across the domain of UInt64. The GKRandom solution provided here is therefore problematic because it's next->Int method states:

     * The value is in the range of [INT32_MIN, INT32_MAX].

Here's a solution that works for me using the RNG in Swift's TensorFlow found here:

public struct ARC4RandomNumberGenerator: RandomNumberGenerator {
  var state: [UInt8] = Array(0...255)
  var iPos: UInt8 = 0
  var jPos: UInt8 = 0

  /// Initialize ARC4RandomNumberGenerator using an array of UInt8. The array
  /// must have length between 1 and 256 inclusive.
  public init(seed: [UInt8]) {
    precondition(seed.count > 0, "Length of seed must be positive")
    precondition(seed.count <= 256, "Length of seed must be at most 256")
    var j: UInt8 = 0
    for i: UInt8 in 0...255 {
      j &+= S(i) &+ seed[Int(i) % seed.count]
      swapAt(i, j)
    }
  }

  // Produce the next random UInt64 from the stream, and advance the internal
  // state.
  public mutating func next() -> UInt64 {
    var result: UInt64 = 0
    for _ in 0..<UInt64.bitWidth / UInt8.bitWidth {
      result <<= UInt8.bitWidth
      result += UInt64(nextByte())
    }
    print(result)
    return result
  }

  // Helper to access the state.
  private func S(_ index: UInt8) -> UInt8 {
    return state[Int(index)]
  }

  // Helper to swap elements of the state.
  private mutating func swapAt(_ i: UInt8, _ j: UInt8) {
    state.swapAt(Int(i), Int(j))
  }

  // Generates the next byte in the keystream.
  private mutating func nextByte() -> UInt8 {
    iPos &+= 1
    jPos &+= S(iPos)
    swapAt(iPos, jPos)
    return S(S(iPos) &+ S(jPos))
  }
}

Hat tip to my coworkers Samuel, Noah, and Stephen who helped me get to the bottom of this.

Answer 4

I ended up using srand48() and drand48() to generate a pseudo-random number with a seed for a specific test.

class SeededRandomNumberGenerator : RandomNumberGenerator {

    let range: ClosedRange<Double> = Double(UInt64.min) ... Double(UInt64.max)

    init(seed: Int) {
        // srand48() — Pseudo-random number initializer
        srand48(seed)
    }

    func next() -> UInt64 {
        // drand48() — Pseudo-random number generator
        return UInt64(range.lowerBound + (range.upperBound - range.lowerBound) * drand48())
    }
    
}

So, in production the implementation uses the SystemRandomNumberGenerator but in the test suite it uses the SeededRandomNumberGenerator.

Example:

let messageFixtures: [Any] = [
    "a string",
    ["some", ["values": 456]],
]

var seededRandomNumberGenerator = SeededRandomNumberGenerator(seed: 13)

func randomMessageData() -> Any {
    return messageFixtures.randomElement(using: &seededRandomNumberGenerator)!
}

// Always return the same element in the same order
randomMessageData() //"a string"
randomMessageData() //["some", ["values": 456]]
randomMessageData() //["some", ["values": 456]]
randomMessageData() //["some", ["values": 456]]
randomMessageData() //"a string"