generating records to test a database ?

[VisionsOfCody]

you know when you have a database table with a large number of columns - when you want to test your interface it's a real pain having to fill in the form dozens of times to generate test data ..

well, has anyone heard of an application that will do that semi-automatically ?

I'm thinking of an application in php that would ask you for the table you want to fill and how many records you want to generate - then it would look at the table in question and, for each column (and field type), ask for a range of acceptable values

so if it's a text column you would provide a minimum and maximum length
if it's an integer field you could specify if it's boolean or give a range of possible values
if it's a date you can specify a range of dates

and if the values come from another table then it would give you a drop-down or something to select the column in the other table which would then create an array of randomly selectable values

Does such a thing exist ? Or is it just the daydream of someone who's very bored of filling in the same form over and over ....... ?

[Roger_Ramjet]

There are all sorts of test-harnesses and test data generators around - try googling for some. Specific to php and/or mysql? Don't know of one; perhaps you could write one instead of all that manual form-filling.

[Sxooter]

I generally create test data (i.e. 100,000 rows of it kinda thing) with a php script that just runs from the command line and creates the semi-random data.

but, for testing web apps, selenium is the king.Selenium

[VisionsOfCody]

Hi there

thanks for your answers - Selenium looks powerful (and open source !!) but i think it would take me longer to learn how to use it than it would take me to write a simple script to do what i need - even with my relatively low level of php skills.

yes - in fact i think i'll have a go at writing one

thanks