Fast Data Masker - Substr masked column

[stfarm]

Hi there, I just started with your product not too long ago, and maybe I am missing something very easy.

I am trying to use the substring function in FastDataMasker but it looks like I can only use on the selected column.

Here is my case:

first_name column, last_name column, username column

in the username column I want to have first initial from the masked value of first_name + last_name.

 

Any suggestions would be great.

Thank you.

[Les Dover]

Hi STFARM,

 

I would do this in 2 steps.  First I would mask (Function SUBSTR) the initial from the first_name column into username column.  Then I would add another masking rule ( Function CONCAT) that would take the resulting username column (it now contains first character of the first_name column) and the last_name column and concatenate them together for that username column.

 

Masking Functions and Parameters

https://docops.ca.com/ca-test-data-manager/4-1/en/reference/masking-functions-and-parameters

 

Apply Multiple Functions to the Same Column

https://docops.ca.com/ca-test-data-manager/4-1/en/provisioning-test-data/mask-production-data/fast-data-masker-best-practices

 

Please let us know if this answers this question.

 

Cheers!
Les

[stfarm]

Les,

 

thank you very much for your quick reply, that's exactly what I would like to do.

When you say you would substr firstname INTO username, could you please tell me how?

The substr function does not expect which column I can use....
And I want a random name in the first_name column.

 

From the doc:

Parameters

• Parm1
  Specifies the position from where to start the extraction.
• Parm2
  Specifies the number of characters to extract from the string.

 

Maybe I am just missing something obvious.....

[Les Dover]

Hi STFARM,

 

Okay.....   You want to take random values from first_name column (RANLOV - in there you specify the column name and then where you are getting it from and then you can try to get the first character using the SUBSTR in the masking.) 

 

Pardon me for stating this, but why a random name???  suppose you have the following:

first_name      last_name         username

Fred               Johnson

Martha           Smith

Larry              Adams

Carrie            Snickerton

 

I would expect you want

first_name      last_name         username

Fred               Johnson             FJohnson

Martha           Smith                 MSmith

Larry              Adams               LAdams

Carrie            Snickerton         CSnickerton

 

"And I want a random name in the first_name column." ??? What does that look like??

first_name      last_name         username

Fred               Johnson             MJohnson

Martha           Smith                 CSmith

Larry              Adams               FAdams

Carrie            Snickerton         MSnickerton

 

Feel free to email me at [e-mail] with your example, what you currently have for your masking file and your options file as well as a mock up of your data and what you expect the outcome to be.

 

Cheers!
Les