Generating Data with Data Generators

  • Article

You can use Microsoft Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals to generate meaningful data for testing. You can generate random data, generate data from existing data sources, and control many aspects of data generation. For example, you can specify the statistical distribution of randomly generated data, you can use regular expressions to specify the format of string data, and you can specify the percentage of NULL data generated. You can generate data that accurately models a production database without putting any production data at risk. When you generate data in this manner, you can test applications that access data without compromising production databases. The topics in this section provide guidance about how to use the data generation functionality.

Note

Instead of generating data, you can also copy some or all the data from a source database into a target database. For more information, see Overview of Comparing Database Data.

In This Section

  • Data Generation Plans
    Contains links to topics that describe how to create data generation plans, and run them to generate data.
  • Using Standard Generators
    Contains links to topics that describe how to use the standard data generators, such as the integer, string, and regular expression generators.
  • Creating Custom Generators
    Contains links to topics that describe how to use extensibility to create, register, and deploy custom data generators.

Reference

Microsoft.VisualStudio.TeamSystem.Data.DataGenerator

  • Creating and Updating Version-controlled Database Schemas
    Describes how you can use database projects in combination with version control software to manage database change. This section includes overviews of how you can use database projects in a team environment, how database developers can set up isolated development environments in which to work, and how you can define, build, and deploy database objects.
  • Team Edition for Database Professionals
    Provides links to topics about advanced database development tools, which include change management, data generation, refactoring, and testing tools that help teams to build reliable database applications.