mimeograph 0.1.0

Generate data based on a simple template

Mimeo (Mimeograph)

Mimeo is a command line tool and python library generating custom data based on a template. It can be used by developers, testers or even business analysts in their daily work.

Installation

Install Mimeo with pip

pip install mimeograph

Usage/Examples

Mimeo Configuration

Prepare Mimeo Configuration first

• for a command line tool: in a JSON file
• for a Mimeograph python class: in a dict

{
  "_templates_": [
    {
      "count": 30,
      "model": {
        "attributes": {
          "xmlns": "http://mimeo.arch.com/default-namespace",
          "xmlns:pn": "http://mimeo.arch.com/prefixed-namespace"
        },
        "SomeEntity": {
          "ChildNode1": 1,
          "ChildNode2": "value-2",
          "ChildNode3": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

You can find more configuration examples in the examples folder.

Mimeograph

Command line tool

mimeo SomeEntity-config.json

Python library

from mimeo import Mimeograph
from mimeo.config import MimeoConfig

config = {
    # Your configuration
}
mimeo_config = MimeoConfig(config)
Mimeograph(mimeo_config).produce()

---

The Mimeo Configuration above will produce 2 files:

<!-- mimeo-output/mimeo-output-1.xml-->
<SomeEntity xmlns="http://mimeo.arch.com/default-namespace" xmlns:pn="http://mimeo.arch.com/prefixed-namespace">
    <ChildNode1>1</ChildNode1>
    <ChildNode2>value-2</ChildNode2>
    <ChildNode3>true</ChildNode3>
</SomeEntity>

<!-- mimeo-output/mimeo-output-2.xml-->
<SomeEntity xmlns="http://mimeo.arch.com/default-namespace" xmlns:pn="http://mimeo.arch.com/prefixed-namespace">
    <ChildNode1>1</ChildNode1>
    <ChildNode2>value-2</ChildNode2>
    <ChildNode3>true</ChildNode3>
</SomeEntity>

---

Mimeo Utils

Mimeo exposes several functions for data generation that will make it more useful for testing purposes.

Template

{
  "count": 2,
  "model": {
    "SomeEntity": {
      "id": "{auto_increment()}",
      "randomstring": "{random_str()}",
      "randomint": "{random_int()}",
    }
  }
}

XML Data

<SomeEntity>
    <id>00001</id>
    <randomstring>mCApsYZprayYkmKnYWxe</randomstring>
    <randomint>8</randomint>
</SomeEntity>

<SomeEntity>
    <id>00002</id>
    <randomstring>ceaPUqARUkFukZIPeuqO</randomstring>
    <randomint>99</randomint>
</SomeEntity>

Documentation

Mimeo Configuration

Mimeo configuration is defined in a JSON file using internal settings and data templates.

Key	Level	Required	Supported values	Default	Description
output_format	Config	:x:	xml	xml	Defines output data format
output_details	Config	:x:	object	---	Defines output details on how it will be consumed
output_details/direction	Config	:x:	file, stdout, http	file	Defines how output will be consumed
output_details/directory_path	Config	:x:	string	mimeo-output	For file direction - defines an output directory
output_details/file_name	Config	:x:	string	mimeo-output	For file direction - defines an output file name
output_details/method	Config	:x:	POST, PUT	POST	For http direction - defines a request method
output_details/protocol	Config	:x:	http, https	http	For http direction - defines a url protocol
output_details/host	Config	:heavy_check_mark:	string	---	For http direction - defines a url host
output_details/port	Config	:x:	integer	null	For http direction - defines a url port (can be empty)
output_details/endpoint	Config	:heavy_check_mark:	string	---	For http direction - defines a url endpoint
output_details/auth	Config	:x:	basic, digest	basic	For http direction - defines a auth method
output_details/username	Config	:heavy_check_mark:	string	---	For http direction - defines a username
output_details/password	Config	:heavy_check_mark:	string	---	For http direction - defines a password
indent	Config	:x:	integer	null	Defines indent applied in output data
vars	Config	:x:	object	---	Defines variables to be used in a Mimeo Template (read more in next section)
xml_declaration	Config	:x:	boolean	false	Indicates whether an xml declaration should be added to output data
_templates_	Config	:heavy_check_mark:	array	---	Stores templates for data generation
count	Template	:heavy_check_mark:	integer	---	Indicates number of copies
model	Template	:heavy_check_mark:	object	---	Defines data template to be copied
attributes	Model	:x:	object	---	Defines attributes applied on the root node (mostly used for namespaces)
context	Model	:x:	object	---	Defines a context name that is internally used e.g. using curr_iter() and get_key() mimeo utils (by default model name is used as the context name)

Mimeo Vars

Mimeo allows you to define a list of variables. You can use them in your Mimeo Config by wrapping them in curly brackets [{VARIABLE}].

There are only 2 rules for variable names:

• Variable name can include upper-cased letters [A-Z], underscore [_] and digits {0-9} only
• Variable name must start with a letter

Variable can be defined with:

• any atomic value
• any other variable defined
• any Mimeo Util

You can use Mimeo Vars as partial values (unless they are defined as Mimeo Utils).

Example:

{
  "vars": {
    "CUSTOM_VAR_1": "custom-value-1",
    "CUSTOM_VAR_2": 1,
    "CUSTOM_VAR_3": true,
    "CUSTOM_VAR_4": "{CUSTOM_VAR_2}",
    "CUSTOM_VAR_5": "{auto_increment('{}')}"
  },
  "_templates_": [
    {
      "count": 5,
      "model": {
        "SomeEntity": {
          "ChildNode1": "{CUSTOM_VAR_1}",
          "ChildNode2": "{CUSTOM_VAR_2}",
          "ChildNode3": "{CUSTOM_VAR_3}",
          "ChildNode4": "{CUSTOM_VAR_4}",
          "ChildNode5": "{CUSTOM_VAR_5}",
          "ChildNode6": "{CUSTOM_VAR_1}-with-suffix"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Mimeo Special Fields

In Mimeo Template you can use so-called special fields. Every field in a template can be stored in memory (provided) and used later as a value of other fields (injected). To provide and inject a special field use curly brackets and colons: [{:SomeField:}]. You provide a field when you use this format in a field name (JSON property name), and inject by applying it in a field value.
They can be injected as partial values, similarly to Mimeo Vars.

Example

{
  "_templates_": [
    {
      "count": 5,
      "model": {
        "SomeEntity": {
          "{:ChildNode1:}": "custom-value",
          "ChildNode2": "{:ChildNode1:}",
          "ChildNode3": "{:ChildNode1:}-with-suffix"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Mimeo CLI

When using Mimeo command line tool you can overwrite Mimeo Configuration properties:

Short option	Long option	Description
-x	--xml-declaration	overwrite the xml_declaration property
-i	--indent	overwrite the indent property
-o	--output	overwrite the output_details/direction property
-d	--directory	overwrite the output_details/directory_path property
-f	--file	overwrite the output_details/file_name property

Mimeo Utils

You can use several predefined functions to generate data by using them within curly braces:

<id>{auto_increment()}</id>

Function	Example	Data
auto_increment()		Generates next integer in context of a model (in nested templates it will use a separated context)
auto_increment(<STRING_PATTERN>)	auto_increment('MYID{:010d}')	Same as auto_increment() but the integer is used in a string pattern provided
curr_iter()		Generates a value of the current iteration in a Mimeo Template context
curr_iter(<CONTEXT_NAME>)	curr_iter('SomeEntity')	Generates a value of the current iteration in a specific Mimeo Model context (model name when context is not configured)
key()		Generates a key unique across all Mimeo Models and being the same within a single Mimeo Model context
get_key(<CONTEXT_NAME>)	get_key('SomeEntity')	Retrieves the last key from a specific context (model name when context is not configured)
get_key(<CONTEXT_NAME>, <ITERATION>)	get_key('SomeEntity', 5)	Retrieves a key from a specific context (model name when context is not configured) and from a specific iteration
random_str()		Generates a random string value of the default length: 20 characters
random_str(<LENGTH>)	random_str(2)	Generates a random string value of the customized length
random_int()		Generates a random integer value within the default range: 0-99
random_int(<LIMIT>)	random_int(10)	Generates a random integer value within the custom range: 0-
random(<ITEMS>)	random(['value', 1, True])	Generates a random value from provided
date()		Generates a today's date in format YYYY-MM-DD
date(<DAYS_DELTA>)	date(-1)	Generates a date with customized days in format YYYY-MM-DD
date_time()		Generates a current date time in format YYYY-MM-DD'T'HH:mm:SS
date_time(<DAYS_DELTA>, <HOURS_DELTA>, <MINUTES_DELTA>, <SECONDS_DELTA>)	date(hours=5, minutes=-3)	Generates a date time with customized time in format YYYY-MM-DD'T'HH:mm:SS
city()	city()	Generates a city name
city(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>)	city(True)	Generates a city name allowing for duplicates within a context
city_of(<COUNTRY>)	city('GBR')	Generates a city name of a specific country (name, iso3 or iso2)
city_of(<COUNTRY>, <ALLOW_DUPLICATES>)	city('United Kingdom', True)	Generates a city name of a specific country (name, iso3 or iso2) allowing for duplicates within a context
country()	country()	Generates a country name
country(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>)	country(True)	Generates a country name allowing for duplicates within a context
country(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>, <COUNTRY>)	country(False, 'GBR')	Generates a country name of a specific country (iso3 / iso2) (<ALLOW_DUPLICATES> parameter is ignored)
country_iso3()	country_iso3()	Generates a country iso3 code
country_iso3(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>)	country_iso3(True)	Generates a country iso3 code allowing for duplicates within a context
country_iso3(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>, <COUNTRY>)	country_iso3(False, 'GB')	Generates a country iso3 code of a specific country (name / iso2) (<ALLOW_DUPLICATES> parameter is ignored)
country_iso2()	country_iso2()	Generates a country iso2 code
country_iso2(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>)	country_iso2(True)	Generates a country iso2 code allowing for duplicates within a context
country_iso2(<ALLOW_DUPLICATES>, <COUNTRY>)	country_iso2(False, 'United Kingdom')	Generates a country iso2 code of a specific country (name / iso3) (<ALLOW_DUPLICATES> parameter is ignored)

License

MIT

Authors

• @TomaszAniolowski

Acknowledgements

• SimpleMaps.com (Cities & countries data)