/faker

A library for generating fake data such as names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Primary LanguageRubyMIT LicenseMIT

Faker Build Status Gem Version

This gem is a port of Perl's Data::Faker library that generates fake data.

It comes in very handy for taking screenshots (taking screenshots for my project, Catch the Best was the original impetus for the creation of this gem), having real-looking test data, and having your database populated with more than one or two records while you're doing development.

NOTE

  • While Faker generates data at random, returned values are not guaranteed to be unique by default. You must explicity specify when you require unique values, see details. Values also can be deterministic if you use the deterministic feature, see details
  • This is the master branch of Faker and may contain changes that are not yet released. Please refer the README of your version for the available methods. List of all versions is available here.

Contents

Installing

gem install faker

Usage

Faker::Name.name      #=> "Christophe Bartell"

Faker::Internet.email #=> "kirsten.greenholt@corkeryfisher.info"

Ensuring unique values

Prefix your method call with unique. For example:

Faker::Name.unique.name # This will return a unique name every time it is called

If too many unique values are requested from a generator that has a limited number of potential values, a Faker::UniqueGenerator::RetryLimitExceeded exception may be raised. It is possible to clear the record of unique values that have been returned, for example between tests.

Faker::Name.unique.clear # Clears used values for Faker::Name
Faker::UniqueGenerator.clear # Clears used values for all generators

It is also possible to add a random number to the end of faker data to increase the likelihood of unique data being generated. For example:

Faker::Name.unique + ((1..1000).to_a).sample

Deterministic Random

Faker supports seeding of its pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) to provide deterministic output of repeated method calls.

Faker::Config.random = Random.new(42)
Faker::Company.bs #=> "seize collaborative mindshare"
Faker::Company.bs #=> "engage strategic platforms"
Faker::Config.random = Random.new(42)
Faker::Company.bs #=> "seize collaborative mindshare"
Faker::Company.bs #=> "engage strategic platforms"

Faker::Config.random = nil # seeds the PRNG using default entropy sources
Faker::Config.random.seed #=> 185180369676275068918401850258677722187
Faker::Company.bs #=> "cultivate viral synergies"

Customization

Since you may want to make addresses and other types of data look different depending on where in the world you are (US postal codes vs. UK postal codes, for example), Faker uses the I18n gem to store strings (like state names) and formats (US postal codes are NNNNN while UK postal codes are AAN NAA), allowing you to get different formats by switching locales. Just set Faker::Config.locale to the locale you want, and Faker will take care of the rest.

If your locale doesn't already exist, create it in the \lib\locales\ directory and you can then override or add elements to suit your needs. See more about how to use locales here

en-au-ocker:
  faker:
    name:
      # Existing faker field, new data
      first_name: [Charlotte, Ava, Chloe, Emily]

      # New faker fields
      ocker_first_name: [Bazza, Bluey, Davo, Johno, Shano, Shazza]
      region: [South East Queensland, Wide Bay Burnett, Margaret River, Port Pirie, Gippsland, Elizabeth, Barossa]

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Contact

Comments and feedback are welcome. Send an email to Benjamin Curtis via the google group.

License

This code is free to use under the terms of the MIT license.