Column generation settings
To configure column generation settings, on the left pane of a Data Generation project, select a column, you want to populate, and on the right pane you’ll see the generation settings for it.
Available configurations
Generator
Data Generator for SQL Server automatically assigns a generator to each column based on its table name, column name, data type, and length. Click an arrow next to the Generator combo box to select a generator from the list. dbForge Data Generator can boast 200 advanced generators divided into the following groups:
- Basic
- Business
- Health
- IT
- Location
- Payment
- Personal
- Product
To save a generator to a file, click the 3.5-inch disk icon.
Fill settings
In this group of options you can select to:
- Set values to be unique
- Include NULL values and specify the proportion of those in a generated dataset
- Include empty values and specify the proportion of those in a generated dataset
- Exclude values and specify the proportion of those in a generated dataset
Note:
The settings available may vary depending on the table name, column name, data type, and length.
Foreign keys are automatically assigned with the Foreign Key generator.
Value distribution mode
Value distribution mode options define how the randomly generated data will be distributed. Options available in this group of settings vary depending on the column datatype, column name, etc.
Here are some examples of the Value distribution mode group of options layout.
Basic distribution mode options
These are the options, presents in the most of the cases. You can select to distribute values:
- Randomly by timestamp
- Randomly by seed (you can specify the seed)
This layout is available for some columns with datatypes nvarchar, xml, hierarchyid, date, nchar, etc.
Value distribution mode options with the ability to configure values repetition
In this layout available for some columns with int datatype, besides the basic options, you can select to distribute values sequentially and specify the number of times a value can be repeated in a generated dataset.
Value distribution mode options with the ability to specify the increment value for sequential distribution
In this layout available for some columns with datetime and tinyint datatypes, besides the basic options, you can select to distribute values sequentially and specify the increment value.
Depending on the data itself the increment value can be expressed in:
- Days
- Days and time
- Numbers
Value distribution mode options with the ability to loop data
This Value distribution mode layout provides the possibility to loop the data to be generated. To do this, select the check box next to the Loop data option.
