Creating test data in a database [closed]

Answer 1

I just completed a project creating 3,500,000+ health insurance claim lines. Due to HIPPA and PHI restrictions, using even scrubbed real data is a PITA. I used a tool called Datatect for this (http://www.datatect.com/).

Some of the things I like about this tool:

1. Uses ODBC so you can generate data into any ODBC data source. I've used this for Oracle, SQL and MS Access databases, flat files, and Excel spreadsheets.
2. Extensible via VBScript. You can write hooks at various parts of the data generation workflow to extend the abilities of the tool. I used this feature to "sync up" dependent columns in the database, and to control the frequency distribution of values to align with real world observed frequencies.
3. Referentially aware. When populating foreign key columns, pulls valid keys from parent table.