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Answer: The key is in the type of number you chose. Since you opted for any digit 0-9, leading zeros may be truncated, thus shortening the length of the number. You can opt for using the "9" character instead (i.e. (9,5,6) or "999999". If you need zeros, but want to avoid the leading zero problem, try using (9,4,5) or "900000".
Answer: In this example, yes they would do the same thing. However, [VAR] was created to allow you to easily cut and paste existing blocks of comma-delimited data. Also, with a large chunk of data, trying to put it into your token string might make the string rather long and cumbersome. Sets are good if you have or short list of items OR if the list you are using has embedded commas (which is why sets use the "pipe" symbol as a delimiter.)
Answer: This is not at all complex, but it will require two separate generation strings. First, generate data for the “master” table. Make sure that whatever value that is used in the master table is and repeatable for the key that links the slave table. I would use an incremental (I,100,1). Next, create the layout for your slave table, with the value [Var] used for the foreign key. Fill the VAR field in with the list of values that tie the two tables together (1,2,3,4, etc.) .
Answer: Actually - no. Most people just want an address, and they should use the Compound token "[Address1]". When you start getting into things like an individual house number or a street suffix, real-world data is not as clean. For instance, what is the house number on a PO Box? What street is it on? See what I mean!
Answer: There are two tricks that will make this more readable - hard returns and comments. Use the /* */ delimiters to mark comment information. Any comments within these delimiters will be ignored by the processor. Also, you can use the return character (which is also ignored) at the end of each column. By doing this, your string would be displayed as follows:
/*Part Num*/999-99,
/*Region Code*/999,
/*Inventory date*/"[Date5]",
/*Bin Number*/(0,1,6),
/*Quantity*/(0,1,6)
Answer: Yes! Simply highlight the information you want to save from the Token List and/or [VAR] Value text boxes, and cut-and-paste it in to notepad, MS Word, or any tool you would use for word processing. To reuse it, simply cut-and-paste it pack into the appropriate textbox(es) and click "Generate". I personally use Excel and use the first column in the spreadsheet as a description, and the second column to hold the generation string.
Answer: Please use the contact information on the "Contact Us" tab to email us with any issues.
Answer: Not at this time, but that is a strong candidate for an improvement in the next release!
Answer: ABSOLUTELEY NOT! The names come from census data for the most popular first and last names. The street names have been assembled from data for various cities, but the house numbers and suffixes (St, Ave, etc.) are created randomly. SSNs are created randomly and may or may not reflect a real world SSNs. The credit card numbers ARE VALID, but are used by the industry for testing (i.e. banks know to reject them). Here is a link to one of the sources for the credit card test numbers if you are curious. http://www.tech-faq.com/test-credit-card-numbers.shtml. Gendatarator uses a small set of valid test credit card numbers (instead of random numbers) since some applications may need actual numbers to validate.
Answer: Excellent question! FreeForm is the first of several versions planned for Gendatarator. We will be releasing "Plus" in the near future, which will allow tokens to be associated with named columns (think database-style), rather than just one big delimited string. Pro will also allow you to save your generation strings through a free registration process. Soon after that, we will be releasing "Pro", which will have some enhancements for ease of use. Pro will have the same look and feel as Plus, but will allow the generation of many more records, increased number of columns, and the ability to save more generation strings. Pro is targeted more for professionals that need to generate large batches of data, and so it will be provided for a fee through a subscription service.
Answer: Gendatarator parses your token string, looking for errors before it actually tries to generate your data. The most common error is unmatched parentheses, brackets, etc. If the problem persists, try using a shorter token string and add tokens until you identify what is causing the problem.
Answer: Yes, use the “VAR” textbox field to list your values in the following format:
(S|XYZ Corp.|Dynasore, Inc|EyeCandy, LTD|etc.)
Then just use [VAR] wherever you want in your format strings!
Answer: Well, it can’t do everything! (However, it can still help you out.) Use the “VAR” field and fill it with your favorite Incan Ruler names in the following format:
Viracocha Inca,Tópa Huallpa,etc.
Then use the following format line:
"[Last]","[monthnum0]\/[Daynum0]\/[year2]",{MOONPHASE},"[Var]"
This will generate the data in the following format:
"Butler","02/27/11",MOONPHASE,"Viracocha Inca"
At that point you will need to write your own script to read a date and replace the value “MOONPHASE” in each string.
Answer: Gendatarator Plus and Gendatarator Pro are currently in development and expand on the capabilities and the number of records. Gendatarator Freeform was designed with a limited generation. However, you can run it multiple times for more data.
Answer: Gendatarator will generate a random sequence of numbers (and some letters) for the house number. The street names are pulled from a variety of public domain sources and randomly picked, along with a random suffix (such as “Street”). These addresses are NOT accurate and should NOT be used as real-world data, such as mailing lists. Occasionally, a valid address for a selected city will be created. For generating more accurate address information, you could populate the [VAR] field with a list of common addresses that might yield good results (123 Main Street, 123 First Street, 123 Pine Street, etc.) Check the web for the list of most common street names.