Sometimes it is useful to be able to generate “fake data” on the fly. Perhaps you need to populate a database, supply some “dummy” data to a user, or test how your app deals with a wide range of input. This How will show you how.
Prerequisites
We’re going to be using the faker gem, developed by Benjamin Curtis. It’s distributed as a RubyGem, so installation is easy:
gem install faker
Note! Refer to our How To Install A Ruby Gem page if you need to learn more about installing gems. For example, you may need to prefix the above with sudo
Faker has no prerequisites so it’s a very easy install.
Fake Names
To generate fake data, you call class methods on the Faker class. For example:
10.times do puts Faker::Name.name end
The results:
Margarita Nader Terrill Marks Ms. Vivianne Robel Mr. Josefina Ebert Christine Graham Dusty Lang Coby Zboncak Sr. Dana Kerluke IV Camille Doyle Jaida Ebert
Fake E-mail Addresses
5.times do puts Faker::Internet.email end
The results:
dewitt.hahn@oconnell.us jermain@mayer.info aiden_block@ratke.biz elvis.mcglynn@osinski.biz martin@grant.name
Don’t think you can just randomly spam any e-mail addresses created by Faker. They’re very unlikely to exist!
Fake Company Names and Slogans
These are priceless! For example:
puts Faker::Company.name puts Faker::Company.catch_phrase puts Faker::Company.bs
The results:
Tillman, O'Keefe and Lockman Distributed full-range policy transform frictionless content
I’ll let you guess what the bs method stands for!
Fake Street Addresses
The address features are quite indepth:
puts Faker::Address.city puts Faker::Address.uk_county puts Faker::Address.zip_code puts Faker::Address.street_address puts Faker::Address.us_state
The results:
Mooreview Hampshire 83292 2502 Rosemary Fort Wisconsin
Dummy Text / Lorem Ipsum
As well as fake identity creation, you can also create dummy text in paragraphs, sentences, or words:
puts Faker::Lorem.paragraphs(2)
The result:
Temporibus minima et ipsa ea exercitationem. Commodi et tenetur reiciendis et. Accusantium ipsum quia quisquam molestiae sed. Ut minus reiciendis ad nihil. Neque et debitis qui voluptates deleniti autem et vel. Repellat atque quibusdam eum eaque. Laboriosam ut ipsam possimus cupiditate. Numquam at maiores aliquid et minima et optio. Omnis cupiditate velit dolor quo esse architecto.
Or:
puts Faker::Lorem.sentences(2)
The result:
Aut adipisci temporibus repellendus dignissimos quia reiciendis. Atque alias adipisci ex possimus ipsum non magnam.
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