Parameters of the String generator

After you add the String generator in a field of a Data definition, you can customize the existing configurations of the field.

When you click the String generator of a specific field in the Data definition in the Edit branch, the unique parameters of the String generator that contains the existing configuration details for that field are displayed in the String dialog.

The following table provides the list of UI elements of the String dialog with their default parameters, and the actions that you can perform in the dialog to customize the parameters for the selected field:

UI element Description Default feature Action
The Generator field Displays the name of the selected generator, that is, String. The name is not editable. NA
The Distribution field Determines if the strings are randomly generated or not in the corresponding column of the test data. Contains the Random option. The Random option is selected.

  • Do not perform any action if you want the strings, when generated in the test data, to follow a random distribution.

  • Clear the Random option if you want the strings to follow a fixed distribution and to be non-random.

    When you clear the option, the Percentage fields of all the existing configurations become editable. You can set a fixed distribution for the strings using the Percentage field.

    For example, if you set the percentage distribution of 30% to a configuration that contains strings with special characters and 70% to another configuration that contains strings with no special characters, then the string column of the generated data displays the values accordingly.

    The percentage for each configuration is automatically rebalanced preserving the allocation in the existing configurations, when you add a configuration subsequently.
The Duplicates field Determines if duplicate or unique strings are present in the generated data. Contains the Allowed option. The Allowed option is selected.
  • Do not perform any action if you want the generated strings to include duplicate entries.
  • Clear the Allowed option if you want to ensure unique strings with no duplicates. This will prevent any duplicate strings from appearing in the generated data.
The Blank percentage field Determines the frequency of blank strings in the generated data. Displays 0 and is editable.

Enter a number from 0 to 100.

For example, if you enter 10, approximately 10% of the strings in the generated data will be blank.
The Name field Displays the custom name of the selected configuration. Displays Default and is editable. Enter an identifiable name to the selected configuration, if required.
The Percentage field Determines the proportion of the generated strings when you do not select the Random option. Editable when Random is not selected.

If you did not select the Random option for distribution, enter a number from 0 to 100 in the Percentage field to set the percentage of strings to be generated.

For example, if you enter 50, the generated data will display the string column with a 50% occurrence rate.
The Minimum characters field Determines the minimum number of digits for the string in the generated data. Displays 10. Edit the default number and enter the custom minimum value, if required.
The Maximum characters field Determines the maximum number of digits for the string in the generated data. Displays 1,000. Edit the default number and enter the custom maximum value, if required.
The Include special characters option Determines whether special characters must be included in the string. The option is not selected. Select the option if you want to include special characters in the string.
The Include digits option Determines whether digits must be included in the string. The option is not selected. Select the option if you want to include digits in the string.
The Add new configuration tab You can add additional string configurations with specific components and settings, if required.
  • The Name field displays Configuration-1 and is editable.
  • The Percentage field is editable when the Random option is not selected.
  • The fields or options in the following sections display the same values that were provided in the previous configuration:
    • Minimum characters
    • Maximum characters
    • Include special characters
    • Include digits

Click the tab and then add the required components for the additional configuration.

For example, you can have one configuration for strings with special characters and another configuration for strings with no special characters. You can similarly customize the values, distribution, and percentage as required.

Note: You can click the delete icon Delete icon to delete any additional configuration that you do not need.
The Save to catalog option After the customization of the String generator is complete, you can use the String generator as the base generator to create a new custom generator. NA

Click the Save to catalog icon .

You can reuse the same configuration at a later time in different scenarios without having to set it up again from the scratch. See Creating custom generators and categories from Data definitions.
The preview icon Image of the preview icon for each configuration of generator. The preview icon Image of the preview icon for each configuration of generator. is available for each configuration of a generator. NA Click the preview icon Image of the preview icon for each configuration of generator. to view the sample test data for the selected configuration of a generator.
The close icon NA NA Click the icon to exit the String generator dialog.
Note: The total percentage displayed in the Percentage fields of all the configurations in the String generator should be equal to 100.