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Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:15:09 -0400
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Subject: PHP 7.1 - should we add a random_str() function?
From: scott@paragonie.com (Scott Arciszewski)

This is probably answerable by a quick yes/no and shouldn't need a ton
of bikeshedding, but if that happens anyway I apologize in advance.

I think random_bytes() and random_int() are great; they provide a
much-needed building block in PHP 7.0. However, I do worry a bit that
the most common use for random_int() (generating a random string of a
fixed length with a given character set) will be reinvented over and
over again, and rarely consistently.

I would propose a random_str() function that behaves similar to this
userland snippet: http://stackoverflow.com/a/32870871/2224584

Function prototype:

> string random_str( int $length, string $charset)

Would return a string or throw an Error|Exception (e.g. invalid input
parameters, or the operating system's CSPRNG begins to melt).

I can write up an RFC for this, with a patch targeting 7.1, if anyone
is interested in it.

Scott Arciszewski
Chief Development Officer
Paragon Initiative Enterprises <https://paragonie.com>