Platform-independent GUID generation in C++?

Question

What is the best way to programmatically generate a GUID or UUID in C++ without relying on a platform-specific tool? I am trying to make unique identifiers for objects in a simulation, but can't rely on Microsoft's implementation as the project is cross-platform.

Notes:

• Since this is for a simulator, I don't really need cryptographic randomness.
• It would be best if this is a 32 bit number.

Answer 1

If you can afford to use Boost, then there is a UUID library that should do the trick. It's very straightforward to use - check the documentation and this answer.

Answer 2

on linux: man uuid

on win: check out for UUID structure and UuidCreate function in msdn

[edit] the function would appear like this

extern "C" { #ifdef WIN32 #include <Rpc.h> #else #include <uuid/uuid.h> #endif }  std::string newUUID() { #ifdef WIN32     UUID uuid;     UuidCreate ( &uuid );      unsigned char * str;     UuidToStringA ( &uuid, &str );      std::string s( ( char* ) str );      RpcStringFreeA ( &str ); #else     uuid_t uuid;     uuid_generate_random ( uuid );     char s[37];     uuid_unparse ( uuid, s ); #endif     return s; }