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The Data Masker
Data Sets
Data Sets provide required information for Insertion
and Substitution rules. The Data Set associated
with a rule indicates which type of data will be inserted or substituted into
the specified table and column. A wide variety of Data Sets (see below) are
available to provide a range of realistic looking data.
For example, a column containing customer last names could be "Masked" by
implementing a Substitution rule on it using the
Random Last Names Data Set. When the Substitution rule
is executed as part of the run of the Masking Set, random last names would be
generated and substituted in for each real customer last name. Thus the true last
name of the customer would be hidden (preserving privacy and security) but the
remaining data would still be referentially relevant and usable as a test system.
A Data Set is associated with a rule when the rule is created and can be changed
at any time using the Options panel on the Set Rules
tab.
Data Sets have options which provide further configuration information. Each
Data Set offers configuration options specific to its requirements. For example,
the Random Dates Data Set offers the ability to set the starting and ending points
of the date range. More information on how to configure the options associated
with each Data Set can be found on the
Masking Rule Options help file.
Note: It is quite possible to add your own custom Data Set to the Data Masker
system. All that is required is to place a simple text file (with a special naming
convention) in the Data Sets directory. Please see the
User Defined Data Sets help page for more information
on how to build your own data sets.
The Data Sets
Listed below are the Data Sets currently available with the Data Masker. More Data Sets
are added all the time - and we are always interested in hearing new ideas.
If you have a requirement which cannot be fulfilled by the Data Sets
below please do let us know by emailing us at
DataSets@DataMasker.com.
- Do Nothing
- This set does not change the contents of the column it is pointed at
which makes it useful for User Defined Proc calls.
Also, if a Cascade rule is placed on a Substitution rule using this data set,
the Cascade rule will function as a kind
of "Make this column the same as that one" type of data set.
- Fake Company Names
- A list of realistic looking company names.
- Female First Names
- A list of typical female first names.
- Formatted AlphaNum Text
- A Data Set which can accept a format string and replace markers within it
with random letters and numbers. Valid substitution markers are %c, %C and %n
which will substitute random lower case letters, upper case letters and digits
for each occurrence in the format string.
For example, the format string MyText%C%C%N might produce a series of values such as
MyTextZY7, MyTextFT3, MyTextDD0... etc when used in a
substitution rule. Use a double percent symbol %% if you wish the format string to
really contain a percent character instead of substituting it.
- Invalid AMEX CC Numbers
- A list of guaranteed invalid American Express Credit Card numbers.
- Invalid DinersClub CC Numbers
- A list of guaranteed invalid Diners Club Credit Card numbers.
- Invalid Discover CC Numbers
- A list of guaranteed invalid Discover Credit Card numbers.
- Invalid MasterCard CC Numbers
- A list of guaranteed invalid MasterCard Credit Card numbers.
- Invalid VISA CC Numbers
- A list of guaranteed invalid VISA Credit Card numbers.
- Invalid UK Postcodes
- A list of invalid United Kingdom postcodes.
- Invalid US Zipcodes
- A list of invalid United States zipcodes. Also offers the option
of using Zip+4 notation.
- Last Names (Large List)
- An extremely large list of surnames.
- Last Names (Short List)
- 1000 surnames. Use these if you want to be sure of getting duplicates.
- Male First Names
- A list of typical Male first names.
- Masked Text
- A dataset with the ability to replace the existing text with random or user specified
text of the same size.
- NULL Values
- Substitutes or Inserts NULL values in the specified column.
- Number Fudger
- Not a Data Set exactly - but functions just like one. The Number Fudger
will take the existing numeric data in the column and vary it by a random
percentage. The bounds of this percentage are user configurable.
- Paragraphs of Gibberish
- Generates paragraphs of random character strings. The maximum word length and
paragraph upper and lower bounds are user configurable.
- Postcodes (Cdn)
- A list of guaranteed invalid random Canadian Postcodes.
- Provinces (Cdn)
- A list of Canadian Provinces. This data set can also generate the standard two letter
abbreviation for the province if required.
- Random Countries
- A list of the countries of the world. Can also generate the ISO two letter country
codes (us, uk, ca, fr etc) if required.
- Random Dates
- Provides an infinite number of random dates between a configurable start and
end point.
- Random Dates (as text)
- Same as the Random Dates Data Set but provides formatting options so the
date can be used in a char or varchar field.
- Random Email Addresses
- Generates realistic looking Email addresses.
- Random Floats
- Provides an infinite number of random floating between a configurable start and
end point. The number of decimal points is also configurable.
- Random Floats (as text)
- Same as the Random Floats Data Set but provides formatting options so the
date can be used in a char or varchar field.
- Random Integers
- Provides an infinite number of random integers between a configurable start and
end point.
- Random Integers (as text)
- Same as the Random Integers Data Set but provides formatting options so the
date can be used in a char or varchar field.
- Random Street Addresses
- Realistic looking street addresses
- Random Town Names
- A large list of random town and city names
- Random UK Counties
- Counties in the United Kingdom.
- Random UK Telephone Numbers
- Generates telephone numbers in the United Kingdom format. Can also generate
always invalid numbers.
- Random US Telephone Numbers
- Generates telephone numbers in the US format. Can also generate
always invalid numbers.
- Random US State Names
- A list of the states in the U.S.A. Can also generate the two letter state
codes (tx, vt, ak, ny etc) if required.
- Random Words
- A large list of words.
- Sequential Dates
- Generates a sequential series of dates. Has a user configurable start and
increment value.
- Sequential Dates (as text)
- Same as the Sequential Dates Data Set but provides formatting options so the
date can be used in a char or varchar field.
- Sequential Integers
- Provides an sequential list of random integers using a configurable start
and increment value.
- Sequential Integers (as text)
- Same as the Sequential Integers Data Set but provides formatting options so the
date can be used in a char or varchar field.
- SSN Numbers (USA)
- Random US SSN numbers with correct high group codes. This
data set can also supply guaranteed invalid SSN numbers.
- Surname Suffixes
- Typical titles such as Dr. Mr. Mrs. Hon. etc..
- Surname Titles
- Typical typical post name text such as Jr. III Ph.d etc.
- UK Vehicle Registration Numbers
- Generates random vehicle license plate numbers in the UK format. Offers options
to choose from among the various styles which have appeared over the years.
- UK National Insurance Numbers
- Generates random United Kingdom NI numbers which will pass basic validity and formatting checks.
- User Defined Data Set
- Inserts (or substitutes) lines of text from a user supplied text file. Please
see the User Defined Data Sets help page for more information
on how to build your own data sets.
- User Supplied Text
- Inserts (or substitutes) a constant string of text in the applicable rows.
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