How to Generate Fake Test Data for SQL Server

How to use a SQL random data generator to fill SQL Server tables with realistic test data, to shift left database unit testing, integration testing and performance testing so that it is performed during the early stages of database development. Read more

Comparing and Syncing Data using SQL Data Compare Command Line

Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to start automating data comparisons between two databases, from the Windows command line or PowerShell. With a single command, you can easily compare and sync data such as test data sets, or static data used for reference or lookup purposes. Read more

Creating a Simple Development Harness with SQL Compare and SQL Data Generator

There is no single, correct approach to developing and testing your SQL batches and routines. It depends on the requirement. For simple tasks, like modifying and testing a view or stored procedure, SQL Compare and SQL Data Generator, combined, provide a useful, lightweight development harness. Read more

Testing SQL Server Stored Procedures and Functions with SQL Data Compare

Phil Factor demonstrates a cunning way to test stored procedures or functions, such as after refactoring, by storing the 'before' and 'after' results in views and then using SQL Data Compare to spot any discrepancies. Read more

SQL Clone for Unit Testing Databases

Phil Factor demonstrates how to use SQL Clone to create 'disposable' SQL Server databases, for development and testing work. You can spin up a clone, use it to unit test your code, messing up the clone in the process, then reset the clone in seconds, ready for the next test. Read more

Testing Databases: What’s Required?

Phil Factor reviews the various types of database test that need to run during development work, what sort of test data they require, and the challenges with managing this data, and in keeping the test cell stocked with the correct database, and data, in a way that allows rapid cycles of database testing. Read more

Safely Deleting Clones and Images during Database Development and Testing

Whenever you’re ready to refresh a test cell with the latest database version, you need a safe way to drop the current set of clones, and the parent image, without losing any unsaved work. Phil Factor provides a PowerShell script that automates this process so it runs in the time it takes to grab a coffee, after which can quickly deploy the new clones. Read more

Deploying and Reverting Clones for Database Development and Testing

Demonstrating how to use PowerShell automation to create a suite of clones, for testing or development work, with the ability to revert a clone to its original state, instantly, ready for the next set of tests to begin. Read more

How to create and refresh development and test databases automatically using SQL Clone and SQL Toolbelt

A PowerShell automation script to build a SQL Server database from source control, seed it with dummy data, document it, and then deploy copies to any number of test and development servers. Read more

A Database Developer’s Guide to SQL Clone

Phil Factor explains how SQL Clone works, and its multiple benefits when used in daily development and testing work, as well as for other tasks such as training staff to use a new application. Read more

Build and fill a database using JSON and SQL Change Automation

Phil Factor demonstrates how to export data from a database, as JSON files, validate it using JSON Schema, then build a fresh development copy of the database using SQL Change Automation, and import all the test data from the JSON files. Read more

Pseudonymizing a Database with Realistic Data for Development Work

How to use SQL Data Generator, and PowerShell to obfuscate personal data (names), while retaining the same distribution of data, so that the test database behaves like the original. Read more

Deploying Multiple Databases from Source Control using SQL Change Automation

How to automatically build multiple test databases, from source control, and then fill them with standard test data sets, using SQL Change Automation, BCP and some PowerShell magic. Read more

Building Better Test Data with SQL Provision

Steve Jones show how a team might use SQL Provision to build consistent, compliant, useful databases, on demand, for development and test environments. Read more

Pseudonymizing your data with SQL Data Generator

Starting from a database view, as the basis for a typical sales reports, Phil factor shows how to generate a data-masked version of this report, which the Tax Men can safely pore over. Read more

Effective Database Testing with SQL Test and SQL Cover

Julia Hayward describes the basics of how SQL Test’s code coverage can help uncover the darker, untested paths in your database code. Read more

How to Test SQL Server Functions and Procedures using SQL Prompt

Phil Factor shows how to create a table of input values versus expected results, and then use it to unit test your SQL stored procedures and functions and verify that they always produce the correct results. He uses SQL Prompt to make this task much simpler. Read more

Realistic, simulated data for testing, development and prototypes

Generating realistic test data is a challenging task, made even more complex if you need to generate that data in different formats, for the different database technologies in use within your organization. Dave Poole proposes a solution that uses SQL Data Generator as a ‘data generation and translation’ tool. Read more

Generating test data in JSON files using SQL Data Generator

Phil Factor shows how to use SQL Data Generator to produce as much pseudonymized data as you are likely to need for your testing, and then convert it to JSON so that you can also use it to test your MongoDB and Azure Cosmos databases, or to test out a new web service. Read more

Basic data masking for development work using SQL Clone and SQL Data Generator

Richard Macaskill describes a lightweight copy-and-generate approach for making a sanitized database build available to development teams, using SQL Clone, SQL Change Automation and SQL Data Generator. Read more

Automatically build-and-fill multiple development databases using PowerShell and SQL Data Generator

This article offers a build-and-fill method for development databases, where each developer will subsequently want to alter the data or metadata in his or her copy of the database. Read more

How to Automatically Fill your SQL Server Test Databases with Dummy Data

A PowerShell script to automatically populate a SQL Server database with dummy data, for database development and testing work. Read more

How to generate realistic text data using SQL Data Generator

To get the best results, you need to provide SQL Data Generator with some hints on how the data ought to look. Phil Factor nudges it towards realistic text data. Read more

Generating realistic dates using SQL Data Generator and Python

How to generate more realistic dates, in your SQL Server test data. Read more

Generating test data with localized addresses using SQL Data Generator

With basic grasp of regex expressions, a tool like SQL Data Generator can generate test data with addresses that are realistic for your part of the world. Read more

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