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SHUFFLE(1)		    General Commands Manual		    SHUFFLE(1)

NAME
       shuffle -- print	a random permutation of	the command line arguments

SYNOPSIS
       shuffle [-f filename ...] [-n number] [-p number] [arg] [...]

DESCRIPTION
       The  shuffle  program prints a random permutation (or "shuffle")	of its
       input lines. This can be	useful in shell	scripts	for selecting a	random
       order in	which to do a set of tasks, view a set of files, etc.

       If the -f option	is given, the data is taken from that files'  contents
       or if the filename is - "stdin".

       If the -n option	is given, its argument is treated as a number, and the
       program	prints	a  random  permutation	of the numbers greater than or
       equal to	0 and less than	the argument.

       If the -p option	is given, its argument is treated as a number, and the
       program prints that number of randomly selected lines or	arguments in a
       random order.

EXAMPLES
	     $ shuffle a b c d
	     c
	     b
	     d
	     a
	     $ shuffle -p 1 a b	c d
	     d
	     $ shuffle -n 4 -p 2
	     0
	     3

SEE ALSO
       jot(1)

HISTORY
       The shuffle program first appeared in NetBSD 1.4.

AUTHORS
       Written by Perry	E. Metzger (perry@piermont.com).

BUGS
       The random number generator isn't that great, and thus the permutations
       often aren't that great.

FreeBSD	ports 15.0	      September	22, 1998		    SHUFFLE(1)

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