skbio.stats.distance.randdm¶

skbio.stats.distance.randdm(num_objects, ids=None, constructor=None, random_fn=None)[source]¶

Generate a distance matrix populated with random distances.

State: Experimental as of 0.4.0.

Using the default random_fn, distances are randomly drawn from a uniform distribution over [0, 1).

Regardless of random_fn, the resulting distance matrix is guaranteed to be symmetric and hollow.

Parameters:	num_objects (int) – The number of objects in the resulting distance matrix. For example, if num_objects is 3, a 3x3 distance matrix will be returned. ids (sequence of str or None, optional) – A sequence of strings to be used as IDs. `len(ids)` must be equal to num_objects. If not provided, IDs will be monotonically-increasing integers cast as strings (numbering starts at 1). For example, `('1', '2', '3')`. constructor (type, optional) – DissimilarityMatrix or subclass constructor to use when creating the random distance matrix. The returned distance matrix will be of this type. If `None` (the default), a DistanceMatrix instance will be returned. random_fn (function, optional) – Function to generate random values. random_fn must accept two arguments (number of rows and number of columns) and return a 2D `numpy.ndarray` of floats (or something that can be cast to float). If `None` (the default), `numpy.random.rand` will be used.
Returns:	DissimilarityMatrix (or subclass) instance of random distances. Type depends on constructor.
Return type:	DissimilarityMatrix