Beginning OpenOffice Calc: From Setting Up Simple Spreadsheets to Business Forecasting

Random Number (RAND)

Syntax: RAND()

The RAND function returns a random fractional number between 0 and 1. To make it a bit more useful, you can multiply it by 10 and use TRUNC to turn the results into integers from 0 to 10. Here's an example:

=TRUNC(RAND()*10)

Multiplying RAND by 100 in the preceding example returns numbers from 0 to 100.

Figure 6-6. Sample result of the RAND function

If you want random numbers from a different range, such as 1970 to 2010, use the following trick:

=TRUNC(RAND()*40)+1970

See also the section on the TRUNC function.