System and method for rule-driven constraint-based generation of domain-specific data sets

A computer system for generating within a computer-readable memory test data useful for testing a data processing system comprising:

• a composition module operating by way of a processor and accessible through a graphical interface and in communication with a data store for defining a data generation template,
• the data generation template containing a plurality of fields each capable of holding a value according to one or more rules,
• the composition module being arranged for executing a set of instructions stored within a computer readable medium for accessing the data store to present through the graphical interface predetermined options for defining the fields as particular data types including fields whose values are affected by the values in other fields,
• an evaluation module arranged for executing a set of instructions stored within a computer readable medium for sorting the fields in an order of dependency so that fields whose values affect the values in other of the fields are ordered before the fields whose values are affected by values in other fields, and
• a data generation module in communication with a library of data files and arranged for executing a set of instructions stored within a computer readable medium for
• (a) populating the plurality of fields with values according to the rules having regard to the order of the sorting,
• (b) retrieving a subset of the values populating some but less than all of the plurality of fields for generating a data set,
• (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) for creating a succession of data sets, and
• (d) writing the succession of data sets into the computer-readable memory;
• wherein at least one of the fields includes a conditional data type that draws a value from one of the fields and differentially affects a value in vet another field based on a logical condition, and
• at least one of the fields is a multi-value field containing a plurality of field parts that are subject to rules of consistency for describing different aspects of a common entity.

A method of generating test data with a modified test data generator template stored in a data store for testing a data processing system comprising steps of loading the template from the data store into a graphical user interface,

• opening the template within the graphical user interface to access a plurality of fields each defined by a selected data type specifying sources of data for populating the fields with values and relationships among the fields,
• modifying the data type of at least one of the fields to better match a relationship between fields of actual data intended for processing by the data processing program,
• populating the plurality of fields with values according to rules specified by the selected data type, tagging one or more of the fields according to the outcome of the rules specified by the selected data type, retrieving a subset of the values populating the plurality of fields including one or more tags for recording the outcome of the rules associated with the value of one or more fields for generating a data set,
• repeating the steps populating and retrieving for creating a succession of data sets, and
• writing the succession of data sets into the computer-readable memory in a form useful for supplying test data to the data processing system;
• wherein at least one of the fields includes a conditional data type that draws a value from one of the fields and differentially affects a value in yet another field based on a logical condition, and
• one of the fields of the template is a multi-value field containing a plurality of field parts that are subject to rules of consistency for describing different aspects of a common entity.

A method of composing a compound template for generating test data useful for testing a data processing system for processing domain specific data comprising steps of composing a first template containing a plurality of fields,

• selecting a data type for each field within the first template from among a plurality of predefined data types that specify sources of data for populating the fields of the first template with values and relationships among the fields of the first template,
• composing a second template containing a plurality of fields,
• selecting a data type for each field within the second template from among a plurality of predefined data types that specify sources of data for populating the fields of the second template with values and relationships among the fields of the second template,
• incorporating the first template as a multi-value field within the second template, at least one of the data types within the second template being a multi-value field accessor that extracts a value from a field part of the multi-value field for influencing a value of another field with the
• second template, and
• storing the second template within computer-readable memory;
• wherein at least one of the fields includes a conditional data type that draws a value from one of the fields and differentially affects a value in yet another field based on a logical condition, and
• the field parts of the multi-value field are subject to rules of consistency for describing different aspects of a common entity.