How
it works:
DataBoy is a typical document-based application. Each
document specifies an output file to be created, and a list
of fields that will be written to it.
Each field is associated with a text input file. For each field
in the output file, a random line is chosen from the corresponding
input file. (The sampling is currently uniform, using a random
number generator of unknown quality.)
Quick start: Drag your input files to the big
list box. Databoy will add a field for each file you
drag. Then set your record count and click Write File
-- it's that easy!
Tip: To select a row in the list box, click
in the field number column -- the others are editable,
and won't select the row.
Tip: If DataBoy crashes on Mac OS 9 and
earlier, try increasing its RAM allocation. (Unfortunately,
the tool I use to develop DataBoy doesn't allow me to implement
a more graceful way around this.)
All input text files are held in RAM, so there's a practical
limit on the number of fields. But only one copy of each file
is held, even if it is used for multiple fields. The number
of output records is irrelevant to RAM usage, as far as I can
tell.
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Goodies
menu: DataBoy can also, given a text file, convert
the first field of each record to proper case, and dump the
result to an output file.
Tech menu: Ignore this; it's just for testing.
Future enhancements, maybe:
- |
easier
specification of common elements, like people names, place
names, phone numbers, cities, area codes... |
- |
numbers
within a specified range |
- |
non-uniform
sampling |
- |
controlled
error introduction |
- |
detailed
variations (e.g., pick a sub-field from the input line) |
It's up to you -- Try it out, and tell me what it needs next!
(Along with the application, I've included a few sample files
for you to play with -- enjoy!) |