RAND Uniformly distributed random numbers and matrices. RAND(N) is an N-by-N matrix with random entries, ordinarily chosen from a uniform distribution on the interval (0.0,1.0). RAND(M,N) or RAND([M,N]) is an M-by-N matrix with random entries. RAND(SIZE(A)) is the same size as A. RAND with no arguments is a scalar whose value changes each time it is referenced. RAND('seed') returns the current seed of the uniform generator. RAND('seed',s) sets the uniform generator seed to s. RAND('seed',0) resets the seed its startup value. RAND('seed',sum(100*clock)) sets it to a different value each time. By default, RAND samples a uniform distribution. The function RANDN generates normally distributed random matrices. RAND and RANDN have separate generators, each with its own seed. Previous versions of MATLAB allowed RAND('normal') to switch the prevailing distribution to normal, RAND('uniform') to switch back to uniform distribution, and RAND('dist') to return a string containing the prevailing distribution, either 'uniform' or 'normal'. MATLAB Version 4.0 continues to allow this switch, but issues a warning message discouraging its use. See also RANDN, SPRANDN.