[#absl-BitGenRef]
= xref:absl.adoc[absl]::BitGenRef
:relfileprefix: ../
:mrdocs:

A type‐erasing, non‐owning reference to any uniform random bit generator.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<absl/random/bit_gen_ref.h>`

[source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"]
----
class BitGenRef;
----

== Description

`absl::BitGenRef` provides a generator‐agnostic non‐owning "reference" interface for use in place of any specific uniform random bit generator (URBG). This class may be used for both Abseil (e.g. `absl::BitGen`, `absl::InsecureBitGen`) and Standard library (e.g `std::mt19937`, `std::minstd_rand`) bit generators.

Like other reference classes, `absl::BitGenRef` does not own the underlying bit generator, and the underlying instance must outlive the `absl::BitGenRef`.

`absl::BitGenRef` is particularly useful when used with an `absl::MockingBitGen` to test specific paths in functions which use random values.

Example: void TakesBitGenRef(absl::BitGenRef gen) { int x = absl::Uniform<int>(gen, 0, 1000); }

== Type Aliases

[cols="1,4"]
|===
| Name| Description
| xref:absl/BitGenRef/result_type.adoc[`result_type`] 
| The type of the values produced by the referenced bit generator.
|===


== Member Functions

[cols="1,4"]
|===
| Name| Description
| xref:absl/BitGenRef/2constructor-0f.adoc[`BitGenRef`]         [.small]#[constructor]#
| Constructors
| xref:absl/BitGenRef/operator_assign-04.adoc[`operator=`] 
| Assignment operators
| xref:absl/BitGenRef/operator_call.adoc[`operator()`] 
| Invokes the referenced bit generator, returning a generated value.
|===


== Static Member Functions

[cols="1,4"]
|===
| Name| Description
| xref:absl/BitGenRef/max.adoc[`max`] 
| Returns the largest possible value from this bit generator.
| xref:absl/BitGenRef/min.adoc[`min`] 
| Returns the smallest possible value from this bit generator.
|===


== Friends

[cols="1,4"]
|===
| Name| Description
| `absl::RandomMockingAccess`
| 
|===


[.small]#Created with https://www.mrdocs.com[MrDocs]#