     SORT(1)                            Br0kE                            SORT(1)
                                   Text Utilities

     NAME
          rand - randomize the order of a stream

     SYNOPSIS
          <cmd> | rand [-lw] [-o <output file>]
          rand [-lwvh] [-f <input file>] [-o <output file>]
          rand {--help,--version}

     DESCRIPTION
          rand has 2 major modes of operation. The first is as a pipe. The
          second is to act on a specified file. There are 2 minor modes of
          operation, the data can be randomized by line or word.

          As a pipe, rand collects the stream until it terminates, then displays
          the randomized results of this completed stream. If the stream is the
          result of several operations, then the stream as a whole is
          randomized.

          When operating on a file, rand will read the input from a single given
          file, and display the results to stdout.

          The two command line parameters control if the randomization is per
          line or word. The default behavior is to randomize by line. rand -w
          will randomize by word, and return one word on every line. A word in
          this sense is any string delimited by a whitespace. Tabs, spaces, and
          newlines are ignored.

     EXAMPLES
          play `find -name *.wav | rand `
          rand -w -f COPYING -o whatever
          rand -l -f history.test -o test.1 /bin/ls | rand -w

     AUTHOR
          Erik Greenwald < br0ke@math.smsu.edu > < erik@smluc.org >

                                        - 1 -      Formatted:  February 24, 2000