The Curiosity Platform allows users to easily set up Data Activities to create re-usable assets such as the synthetic data generation activity. The activity will allow us to create a rule set which will contain the necessary rules to create the synthetic data that is needed.
There is also the option to create a data generation submit form, which allows you to execute the synthetic data generation routine. This can be executed either via the tool in a self-service portal or through other methods such as an API call.
Step 1 - Create the data generation activity
In the enterprise test data dashboard, you will see the ‘Data Generation’ activity. Click on this to start the wizard.
Step 2 - Fill out the details tab
This will open a dialogue box for you to start filling out information. First up is the ‘Details’ tab.
Enter the Name of the activity (1), Description of the activity (2), Application the activity belongs to (3), and choose the default VIP server (4) you want to use to execute the action.
Step 3 -Choose the definition
The next tab is the ‘Definition’ tab, where you will need to select a Database Definition (1). The Version (2) and Connection (3) will be automatically populated based on the selected definition.
Step 4 - Choose the rule set
Next, you need to select the rule set. There are two options for your rule set selection, or you can skip the activity and complete it later.
- Existing rule set
If you choose an existing rule set, only the rule sets linked to the definition chosen on the previous page will be displayed.
- New rule set
To create a new rule set click on the ‘New Rule Set’ option, you can configure the rule set using the techniques shared in Section 3 of this training. This action will let you set which tables you are going to generate data for, using the ‘New Rule Set’ dialogue box.
The Details’ tab lets you set the name and description for the rule set.
The ‘Configuration’ tab lets you set whether all tables will be used and whether ID columns are active.
The ‘Tables’ tab will allow you to select which tables the data generation will be based on.
Note: once you have selected one or more tables (1), you need to click the ‘Add Tables’ button (2) in order to add them to the rule set.
When you create the rule set, you will need to generate an up-to-date model for the definition if you do not already have one, To do this, click the ‘Regenerate’ button that will appear to the right in the yellow dialogue box (shown below). If you already have an up-to-date model, this will not appear.
The job will open in a new browser window and once it is complete, you can save your rule set.
Step 5 - Create infrastructure and form
If you have selected an existing rule set, you will be given the option to also create the infrastructure, the VIP flow, and the submit form. If you have selected the ‘New Rule Set’ option, this will not appear.
Once your rule set is complete, you will be able to set up the ‘submit form’. By default, ‘Create Submit Form’ (1) will be checked. If you uncheck it, then form details part (2) will be removed. The form is necessary to give the user an interface from which to execute the VIP flow, that creates the synthetic data.
If the Prepare Requisite Infrastructure box is ticked (3) this will automatically create the VIP flow from the existing ruleset and any other required internal configuration files needed to enable synthetic data creation.
Note: If no rule set has been selected, this will not be displayed.
There are more details on setting up a submit form in Section 4 of this training.
Step 6 - Complete the creation
Once the previous sections have been completed the user needs to select the location that the Data Activity will be saved in. It defaults to the current project that the user’s session is in.
Step 7 - Finish the data generation activity
The ‘summary’ tab provides a list of the actions to be carried out, so you can review them before finishing the wizard.
Once you click ‘Finish’, you have the option to go directly to the data activity (1) or you can navigate to it in the activity explorer at a later time.
You can also view the jobs that created the VIP Flow and Submit form (2), if they were created. By tracking these jobs we can view if there are any compilation issues due to the configuration of the rule set, and see how the job is progressing. Clicking the ‘Track’ button will take you to the job details screen where you can view what is happening and download the logs if needed.
Exercise 1
- Create a new activity using the wizard, choosing to ‘Configure a new rule set’
Need help or want to check your work? Check the solution video here.
Proceed to Section 2 - Generation rule set and accelerators >