The primary function of the Run Masking Set tab is to initiate the execution of the defined Masking Rules. Also available on this tab are facilities to monitor the progress of the Masking Rule execution and configure the number of concurrently executing threads.

The Data Masker Run Masking Set

What the buttons do

Run the Masking Set

This is the button that initiates the execution of the Masking rules against the tables and columns in the target schemas.

Note: it is important to realize that running the Masking Set will irrevocably modify the specified tables and columns in the target schema. You MUST be sure that you know what the rules do, that you want the results of what the rules do and that the configured TNS Names entry in the schema connection information correctly points at the database you wish to update.

There is no way of un-doing the operations of a Masking Set run. Your only option is the standard Oracle recovery procedures.

Commit Frequency

In order to avoid consuming large amounts of rollback segment or undo tablespace resources the Data Masker will send a Commit command to the Oracle database at the specified interval. The default is 5000 which seems to be a reasonable compromise - feel free to adjust this if you wish. Setting this value too small will result in longer execution times.

Use Consistent Randomization

Normally the Data Masker software will completely randomize the effects of Substitution and Shuffle rules. This means that subsequent runs of a Masking Set will cause different and unique data to be associated with each row and column.

Sometimes, however, it is desirable to have each run of a Masking Set produce a consistent randomization effect. The data is still randomized - however it is randomized in the same way for each run. This means that the scrambeld output looks consistent.

If Consistent Randomization is used, it is important to realize that the start data for each masking run must also be identical. If the source table is modified between masking operations (rows added or removed) the output can be different even with the Consistent Randomization option enabled.

Schema/Rule#

This column indicates the ID number of the rule and also contains a small icon which serves to indicate whether the rule is an Insertion rule , a Substitution rule , a Crypto rule , or a Shuffle rule . It is important to note that the rule number also provides useful information as it indicates the type of rule.

01000-01999 - given to Insertion rules.

02000-02999 - given to Crypto rules.

03000-03999 - given to Substitution rules.

04000-04999 - given to Shuffle rules.

A Masking Set can list rules for more than one target schema. This column also lists the owner of the table referred to in the following columns.

Rule Type

This column names the type of rule and will be one of: (Insertion, Crypto, Substitution or Shuffle)

Rows to Process

This area lists the number of rows which will be processed by the rule. Because the actual number of rows is not known until the Masking Set is running this field will stay as an unknown ? until the rule has begun to execute.

Processed Rows

This area lists the number of rows that have been processed by the rule.

Rows/Sec

Rules will execute at a variety of rates depending on the rule type, database configuration and a large number of other factors. This field provides an indication of how many rows each rule is processing per second.

Time (sec)

The total length of time (in seconds) the rule has been active.

Percent Done

The value of 100*((Processed Rows)/(Rows to Process)).