char2seed: Convert a character string into a random seed
Description
This function creates a seed for the random number generator from a
character string. Character strings can be based on student names so
that every student has a different random sample, but the teacher can
generate the same datasets.
Usage
char2seed(x, set = TRUE, ...)
Arguments
x
A character string
set
Logical, should the seed be set or just returned
...
Additional parameters passed on to set.seed
Value
This returns an integer (but mode numeric) to use as a seed for the
RNG. If set is true then it is returned invisibly.
Details
Simulations or other situations call for the need to have repeatable
random numbers, it is easier to remember a word or string than a
number, so this function converts words or character strings to an
integer and optionally sets the seed based on this.
Teachers can assign students to generate a random dataset using their
name to seed the rng, this way each student will have a different
dataset, but the teacher can generate the same set of data to check
values.
Any characters other than letters (a-zA-Z) or digits (0-9) will be
silently removed. This function is not case sensitive, so "ABC" and
"abc" will generate the same seed.
This is a many to one function, so it is possible to find different
words that generate the same seed, but this is unlikely by chance alone.