synthetic-data-maker 0.3.1

A powerful CLI tool to generate realistic synthetic data for testing and development

Synthetic Data Generator

A powerful Python package for generating realistic synthetic data for testing, development, and demonstrations. Built with a modular architecture and professional packaging standards.

Overview

Synthetic Data Generator provides a comprehensive toolkit for creating fake but realistic datasets across multiple domains including e-commerce, healthcare, finance, IoT, education, and more. The package is designed with modularity, testability, and ease of use in mind.

Features

• 10 Pre-built Templates covering diverse domains
• Modular Architecture with clean separation of concerns
• CLI Interface for quick data generation
• Python API for programmatic usage
• Data Profiling capabilities for analyzing generated datasets
• Multiple Export Formats (CSV, JSON)
• Reproducible Results with seed support
• Extensible Design for custom templates

Installation

📦 Install from PyPI (Recommended)

The easiest way to install synthetic-data-maker:

pip install synthetic-data-maker

To upgrade to the latest version:

pip install synthetic-data-maker --upgrade 

🧪 Verify Installation

Check the installed version:

pip show structured-data-generator

🐍 Install in Virtual Environment (Recommended)

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv

# Activate virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux
# or
venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows

# Install package
pip install synthetic-data-maker

📁 Install from Source (For Development)

# Clone or navigate to the project directory
cd structured_data_generator

# Install in development mode (recommended for development)
pip install -e .

# Or install normally
pip install .

🧰 Uninstalling

To remove the package:

pip uninstall synthetic-data-maker

✅ Requirements

• ✔ Python 3.8+
• ✔ pip installed
• ✔ Internet connection (only for installation)

Quick Start

⚙️ Available CLI Commands

After installation, two CLI commands become available globally:

➤ 1. Generate Dataset

generate-dataset

This launches an interactive CLI that guides you through:

1. Select a template (e.g., User, E-commerce, Healthcare)
2. Choose subcategories (specific data fields)
3. Specify number of rows
4. Optionally set a seed for reproducibility
5. Preview and export data as CSV or JSON

➤ 2. Profile Dataset

profile-dataset data/generated/output.csv

Analyze any CSV or JSON dataset to get comprehensive statistics.

📁 Basic Usage Examples

Generate a dataset:

generate-dataset

Profile an existing dataset:

profile-dataset output.csv

Using the CLI (Development Mode)

If you installed from source, you can also run:

python scripts/generate_dataset.py
python scripts/profile_dataset.py data.csv

Using as a Python Module

from structured_data_generator.core.generators import (
    USER_TEMPLATE, 
    ECOM_TEMPLATE,
    generate_from_template
)

# Generate 100 user profiles
data = generate_from_template(
    USER_TEMPLATE,
    ["Personal Info", "Address", "Account Info"],
    count=100,
    seed=42
)

# Save to CSV
from structured_data_generator.io.csv_handler import save_to_csv
save_to_csv(data, "users.csv")

# Save to JSON
from structured_data_generator.io.json_handler import save_to_json
save_to_json(data, "users.json")

Available Templates

1. USER_TEMPLATE

Generate user profiles and account information.

Subcategories:

• Personal Info: Name, username, email, phone, gender, date of birth
• Address: Street, city, state, country, pincode
• Account Info: Creation date, last login, account status
• Preferences: Language, currency, marketing opt-in
• Device Info: Device type, OS, browser

Use Cases: User databases, authentication systems, customer profiles

2. ECOM_TEMPLATE

Generate e-commerce transaction data.

Subcategories:

• Order Info: Order ID, transaction date, status, total amount
• Customer Info: User ID, name, email, phone
• Product Info: Product ID, name, category, quantity, price
• Payment Info: Payment method, status, transaction ID
• Shipping Info: Address, shipping partner, shipping status
• Device Info: Device type, OS, browser

Use Cases: E-commerce platforms, order management systems, payment testing

3. FINANCIAL_TEMPLATE

Generate banking and financial transaction data.

Subcategories:

• Account Info: Account ID, type, bank name, IFSC code
• Transaction Info: Transaction ID, date, type, amount, status
• Customer Info: Customer ID, name, email, PAN, Aadhaar
• Card Info: Card type, network, last 4 digits
• Loan Info: Loan ID, type, amount, interest rate, EMI
• Device Info: Device type, OS, browser

Use Cases: Banking applications, financial dashboards, transaction analytics

4. HEALTHCARE_TEMPLATE

Generate medical records and patient data.

Subcategories:

• Patient Info: Patient ID, name, age, gender, blood group, risk score
• Medical Record: Record ID, diagnosis, symptoms, severity
• Doctor Info: Doctor ID, name, specialization, hospital
• Appointment Info: Appointment ID, date, status, consultation type
• Prescription Info: Prescription ID, medicine, dosage, duration
• Billing Info: Invoice ID, consultation fee, medicine charges, total bill
• Device Info: Device type, OS, browser

Use Cases: Hospital management systems, telemedicine apps, medical records

5. IOT_SENSOR_TEMPLATE

Generate IoT sensor readings and device data.

Subcategories:

• Device Info: Device ID, type, firmware version, manufacturer
• Location Data: Latitude, longitude, altitude, zone
• Sensor Readings: Temperature, humidity, air quality, CO2, motion
• Network Data: Signal strength, connection type, IP address
• Battery Power: Battery level, health, charging status
• Timestamp Info: Timestamp, last maintenance

Use Cases: IoT dashboards, sensor data analysis, smart home testing

6. NLP_TEXT_TEMPLATE

Generate text data for NLP applications.

Subcategories:

• Basic Text: Sentences, paragraphs, words, keywords
• Document Metadata: Title, author, published year, document type
• NLP Annotations: Language, sentiment, emotion, toxicity, reading level
• Synthetic NER Data: Person names, locations, organizations
• Text Stats: Word count, character count, average word length
• Timestamp Info: Created at, updated at

Use Cases: NLP model testing, text analysis, chatbot training

7. WEB_ANALYTICS_TEMPLATE

Generate website analytics and user behavior data.

Subcategories:

• Session Info: Session ID, user ID, duration, engagement score
• Page Metrics: URL, time on page, scroll depth, interactions, CTR
• Traffic Source: Source, medium, campaign, keyword
• Device Info: Device type, browser, OS, screen resolution
• Geo Data: IP address, country, city, timezone
• Performance: Page load time, DNS lookup, TTFB, JS errors

Use Cases: Analytics dashboards, website performance testing, traffic analysis

8. IMAGE_METADATA_TEMPLATE

Generate image metadata and EXIF data.

Subcategories:

• Basic Info: Image ID, filename, format, file size, color mode
• Dimensions: Width, height, aspect ratio, DPI
• Camera EXIF: Camera make/model, lens, focal length, aperture, ISO
• Geolocation: Latitude, longitude, country, city
• Tags Labels: Primary label, secondary labels, confidence score
• Color Stats: Dominant color, brightness, contrast
• Timestamp Info: Created at, uploaded at, last modified

Use Cases: Image databases, photo library apps, image analysis

9. EDU_STUDENT_TEMPLATE

Generate student academic records.

Subcategories:

• Student Profile: Student ID, name, age, gender, grade level
• Academic Scores: Math, science, English, social science, computer scores
• Attendance: Total classes, classes attended, attendance percentage
• Behavior Activity: Disciplinary actions, participation, sports score
• Performance Metrics: Study hours, homework completion, participation score
• Timestamp Info: Record created, last updated

Use Cases: School management systems, student performance dashboards

10. PRODUCT_CATALOG_TEMPLATE

Generate product catalog data.

Subcategories:

• Basic Info: Product ID, name, category, brand, description
• Variants: Color, size, material, model number
• Pricing: Price, discount, final price, currency
• Inventory: Stock status, quantity, warehouse location, restock date
• Ratings Reviews: Average rating, total reviews, review text
• Timestamps: Released at, last updated

Use Cases: E-commerce catalogs, product databases, inventory management

Project Structure

structured_data_generator/
├── README.md                          # This file
├── pyproject.toml                     # Modern Python packaging
├── requirements.txt                   # Dependencies
├── LICENSE                            # MIT License
│
├── structured_data_generator/         # Main package
│   ├── __init__.py
│   │
│   ├── core/                          # Core generation logic
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── generators.py              # All templates and generation engine
│   │   ├── constraints.py             # Data constraints and validation
│   │   └── utils.py                   # Helper functions, seed management
│   │
│   ├── io/                            # Input/output handling
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── csv_handler.py             # CSV operations
│   │   └── json_handler.py            # JSON operations
│   │
│   ├── profiling/                     # Data profiling
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── profiler.py                # Dataset profiling and statistics
│   │
│   └── config/                        # Configuration
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── default_config.py          # Default settings
│
├── scripts/                           # CLI scripts
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── generate_dataset.py            # Main CLI for data generation
│   └── profile_dataset.py             # CLI for profiling datasets
│
├── tests/                             # Unit tests
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── test_generators.py
│   ├── test_constraints.py
│   ├── test_io.py
│   └── test_profiler.py
│
└── examples/                          # Example notebooks
    ├── numeric_example.ipynb
    ├── categorical_example.ipynb
    └── timeseries_example.ipynb

Usage Examples

Example 1: Generate User Profiles

from structured_data_generator.core.generators import USER_TEMPLATE, generate_from_template
from structured_data_generator.io.csv_handler import save_to_csv

# Generate 50 user profiles
users = generate_from_template(
    USER_TEMPLATE,
    ["Personal Info", "Address", "Account Info"],
    count=50,
    seed=123
)

# Save to CSV
save_to_csv(users, "user_profiles.csv")

Example 2: Generate E-commerce Orders

from structured_data_generator.core.generators import ECOM_TEMPLATE, generate_from_template
from structured_data_generator.io.json_handler import save_to_json

# Generate 100 orders
orders = generate_from_template(
    ECOM_TEMPLATE,
    ["Order Info", "Customer Info", "Product Info", "Payment Info"],
    count=100,
    seed=42
)

# Save to JSON
save_to_json(orders, "orders.json")

Example 3: Generate Healthcare Data

from structured_data_generator.core.generators import HEALTHCARE_TEMPLATE, generate_from_template

# Generate 200 patient records
patients = generate_from_template(
    HEALTHCARE_TEMPLATE,
    ["Patient Info", "Medical Record", "Doctor Info"],
    count=200
)

# Display first few rows
print(patients.head())

Example 4: Profile a Dataset

from structured_data_generator.profiling.profiler import generate_profile, print_profile
import pandas as pd

# Load a dataset
df = pd.read_csv("users.csv")

# Generate and print profile
profile = generate_profile(df)
print_profile(profile)

Or use the CLI:

python scripts/profile_dataset.py users.csv

Advanced Usage

Custom Configuration

Edit structured_data_generator/config/default_config.py to customize:

DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
    'locale': 'en_US',           # Faker locale
    'default_rows': 100,         # Default number of rows
    'default_seed': None,        # Default seed
    'csv_index': False,          # Include index in CSV
    'json_orient': 'records',    # JSON orientation
    'json_indent': 4,            # JSON indentation
}

Creating Custom Templates

Add your own template to structured_data_generator/core/generators.py:

CUSTOM_TEMPLATE = {
    "template_name": "my_custom_template",
    "subcategories": {
        "Basic Info": {
            "ID": lambda: str(uuid.uuid4()),
            "Name": lambda: fake.name(),
            "Custom Field": lambda: random.choice(["A", "B", "C"])
        }
    }
}

Using Constraints

from structured_data_generator.core.constraints import enforce_range, ensure_uniqueness

# Enforce value range
value = enforce_range(150, min_val=0, max_val=100)  # Returns 100

# Ensure uniqueness
unique_list = ensure_uniqueness([1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4])  # Returns [1, 2, 3, 4]

Testing

Run the test suite:

# Run all tests
python -m unittest discover tests

# Run specific test file
python -m unittest tests.test_generators

# Run with verbose output
python -m unittest discover tests -v

Data Profiling

Profile any generated dataset to get comprehensive statistics:

python scripts/profile_dataset.py data.csv

Output includes:

• Dataset shape (rows × columns)
• Memory usage
• Column names and data types
• Missing values
• Numeric statistics (mean, std, min, max, quartiles)

Configuration

The package uses sensible defaults but can be customized:

• Locale: Change Faker locale for region-specific data
• Default rows: Set default number of rows to generate
• Seed behavior: Control randomness and reproducibility
• Export settings: Customize CSV and JSON output formats

Dependencies

• pandas (>=1.3.0): Data manipulation and analysis
• faker (>=8.0.0): Realistic fake data generation
• numpy: Numerical operations (installed with pandas)

Best Practices

1. Use seeds for reproducibility: When testing, always use a seed to get consistent results
2. Start small: Generate 10-100 rows first to verify the output
3. Select only needed subcategories: Don't generate unnecessary fields
4. Profile your data: Use the profiler to understand your generated datasets
5. Batch large datasets: For millions of rows, generate in batches

Performance

Generation speed depends on:

• Number of rows
• Number of fields
• Complexity of field generators

Typical performance:

• 100 rows: ~1-2 seconds
• 1,000 rows: ~5-10 seconds
• 10,000 rows: ~30-60 seconds

Limitations

• All data is synthetic and fake - not suitable for production use with real users
• Some field combinations may not be perfectly realistic
• Large datasets (millions of rows) may require significant memory

Contributing

To add new templates or features:

1. Add template to structured_data_generator/core/generators.py
2. Export in structured_data_generator/core/__init__.py
3. Add tests in tests/test_generators.py
4. Update this README

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions:

• Check the examples in the examples/ directory
• Review test files in tests/ for usage patterns
• Refer to STRUCTURE_README.md for detailed architecture information

Version

Current Version: 0.3.1

Acknowledgments

Built with:

• Faker for realistic fake data generation
• Pandas for data manipulation
• Python's standard library for core functionality