Configuring a column
To display the column configuration panel, in the column heading, click the settings icon.
For information on the data model for configuring these general properties from the API, go to General column configuration.
Setting the column name
In the Name field, set the column name.
Selecting and configuring the generator
When you create a column, Fabricate assigns a generator based on the column name and any description that you provide.
You can change the assigned generator, and configure the details for how Fabricate populates the column.
From the Generator dropdown list, select the generator to use to populate the column.
To find a specific generator, in the search field, begin to type text in the generator name.
A generator can have settings that are specific to the generator. For information about generator-specific settings, go to the generator reference.
Configuring a weighted value distribution for a column
Many generators allow you to to configure a weighted value distribution.
The value distribution determines whether to populate the column based on other values. The higher the weight, the more likely that the column is populated.
Under Distribution:
To add a weight:
Click Add Weight.
From the value type dropdown list, select the type of value to use to set the weight. A value of that type must be present in another column in the table.
For example, you might configure a weight based on the value of a column that contains email address values.
From the relationship type dropdown list, select the comparison to use for the provided values. You can check that the value is one of a provided list, is not in the provided list, or is not null.
In the value field, provide a comma-separated list of values to use for the comparison. For example, you can set a weight that applies to rows where the email address is either
[email protected]or[email protected].In the Weight field, provide the weight to apply.
To delete a weight, click its delete icon.
In the default weight field, provide the weight to apply for values that do not match a configured weight entry.
Using a group key to link column values
Many generators allow you specify a group key.
A group key allows you to indicate that a set of columns are related.
Fabricate automatically links columns that use specific generators. For example, columns that contain address fields such as city and state are automatically linked.
However, you might want to link columns that are not linked automatically.
In the Group Key field, provide the group key value. Use the same group key value for all of the related columns.
Setting a percentage of null values
To make the actual data more realistic, or to address a specific use case, you might want some portion of the data to have null values.
In the Percentage Null field, provide the percentage of rows for which to populate the column with a null value.
Excluding the column from exported data
You can also exclude a column when you export data from Fabricate. For example, you might want to exclude binary values from the export. Or you might add a column that you use to calculate the value of another column, but that is not part of the actual data.
To exclude a column, check Hide Column While Exporting.
The column is grayed out and marked as hidden.
Advanced column settings
On the column configuration panel, to display the advanced settings, click Show Advanced.
Marking a column as the primary key
When you create a table, Fabricate if possible identifies a column as the primary key. You can if needed change the primary key assignment.
To assign a column as the primary key for the table, check Primary Key.
Each table can only have one primary key.
Indexing a column
Indexing a column improves the performance of views that filter, join, or order by the column.
To index the column, check Index This Column.
Setting a seed for consistent values
Fabricate generates data based on a seed value. By default, the seed is random, meaning that every time you export data, you get a different set of values.
To essentially freeze the value of a column, you can provide a specific seed for Fabricate to use for every data export.
One option is to configure a seed for the table. The table columns then use that seed.
You can also provide a specific seed for a column. The column-level seed overrides any table-level seed value.
In the column Seed field, provide the seed to use to generate the column values. To have Fabricate generate a seed value, click the generate icon.
Note that when you use a seed value to freeze a column value, it also freezes any related columns. For example, when you set a seed to freeze a city column, other address column values are also frozen.
Until you change the seed, Fabricate generates a consistent set of data.
Adding SQL for postprocessing
You might want to make adjustments to the data after it is generated.
For example, you might want to make text values all lowercase or all uppercase.
In the Postprocessing SQL text area, enter the SQL. For example, lower(last_name)
If you need help with the SQL, in the AI field, type a description of what you want to happen, then click Generate. For example, Change all of the characters to lowercase.
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