AngelaSmith

AngelaSmith is a library you can use to generate realistic test data. It is composed of several property fillers that can populate commonly named properties through reflection using an internal database of values or randomly created data. You can override any of the fillers, give AngelaSmith hints on how to fill them, or easily extend the property fillers using extension methods or MEF.

Angie is one of the brightest gals around. Using her powers of insight and female comprehension, she can fill in all the details for you on anything you throw at her.

Use Angie's static methods to new up new objects for testing, design-time data or seeding a database.Watch how fast she is at learning new languages, dialects or themes, all the while making your test or sample data more realistic.

She even has a pretty good sense of humor!

Installation

AngelaSmith is on NuGet so you can easily add it to your project from the Package Manager Console:

install-package AngelaSmith 

We publish build releases through our CI server. If you wish to use these versions include the pre parameter:

install-package AngelaSmith -Pre

Example Usage

Let's say you have a Person class like so:

    class Person
    {
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
        public string Title { get; set; }
        public int Age { get; set; }
        public int NumberOfKids { get; set; }
		
		private string _middleName;
		public void SetMiddleName(string name){ _middleName = name; }
    }

And you want a new instance of Person. With AngelaSmith, you just do this:

    var person = Angie.FastMake<Person>();

Tada! Your person is now filled with all the data you could ever dream of!

But Wait!

"I don't need no stickin' person! I need a whole list of them!

Easy-peasy lemon squeezy, my friend! Ask for a list instead of a single instance like so:

    var people = Angie.FastList<Person>();

There...you have 25 people, this is the default in a list.

"Yeah, sure, fine, but they have to be between the ages of 19 and 25!"

Cool beans, my brother or sister. Here's how AngelaSmith rolls:

    var people = Angie
        .Configure<Person>()
        .Fill(p => p.Age)
        .WithinRange(19, 25)
        .MakeList<Person>();

And you're off to the races! Don't worry, I won't tell your boss how long that took. ;)

Custom Property Fillers

If you want to control how the property is set, you can use your own function (anonymous or otherwise) to do so.

    var blogTitle = "Angie";

    var post = Angie
        .Configure<BlogPost>()
        .Fill(b => b.Title, () => { return blogTitle; })
        .Make<BlogPost>();

Or, you can use one of the built-in helper methods, to, for example, spin up 1000 comments that happened in the past. There are a ton of helpers in "Jen", and you can use her to help "Jen"erate values for your objects.

    Angie.Default()
        .ListCount(1000);

    var comments = Angie
       .Configure<BlogPost>()
       .Fill(c => c.CreateDate, () => { return Jen.FillDate(DateRules.PastDate); })
       .MakeList<BlogComment>();

Method Fillers

If your project uses one-parameter setter methods, you can use AngelaSmith too!

    var post = Angie
        .Configure<Person>()
        .MethodFill<string>(x => x.SetMiddleName(null))
        .Make<Person>();

You can use any of the helper methods with setter methods, just like with properties.

Note: Unlike properties, AngelaSmith will not automatically poke data into any methods found. That sounds a little too risky! So if you want AngelaSmith to use your setter methods, specify each method you'd like filled.

More To Come

AngelaSmith was originally created by James Chambers. David Paquette brought the awesome and helped create the fluent interface. Simon Timms has recently joined the project and built out our automated deployment/CI server.

We are continuing to add more features, such as:

• Better support for object self-awareness (think of an email address lining up with a first name/last name or username)
• Additional property fillers
• Portable library support (Windows Phone/Windows RT)