Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 00:52:41 von Brian Dunning

Hey all -

I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, =
email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses =
should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people =
or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address =
validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?

- Brian=

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 01:19:35 von Shawn McKenzie

Brian Dunning wrote:
> Hey all -
>
> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>
> - Brian

It should be easy to code a routine to generate random data. Maybe 20 -
30 lines of code. Obviously you may have a name like Dgidfgq Xcvbop and
company Wsdkn, but it shouldn't matter if testing is your purpose.

--
Thanks!
-Shawn
http://www.spidean.com

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 01:19:35 von Shawn McKenzie

Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 01:49:49 von Nathan Rixham

Brian Dunning wrote:
> Hey all -
>
> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>
> - Brian

get the data from a "whats near X" API and obscure the personally
identifiable data with dummy values.
?

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 01:49:49 von Nathan Rixham

Brian Dunning wrote:
> Hey all -
>
> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>
> - Brian

get the data from a "whats near X" API and obscure the personally
identifiable data with dummy values.
?

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 02:06:52 von Trevor Gryffyn

I remembered a coworker found an online resource that generated sample data
for you. I hit google and I think I found it:

http://www.generatedata.com/

I I found it on a list of resources for data generation:

http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/test-sample-data-generators /

I've never used any of these, but once again.. Google is your friend.

-TG

----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Dunning
To: php-general@lists.php.net, mysql@lists.mysql.com
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:52:41 -0800
Subject: [PHP] Good source for sample data?

> Hey all -
>
> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address,
email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses
should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people
or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address
validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>
> - Brian
> --
> PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
> To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
>
>

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 02:38:22 von james stojan

--0016e6d7e345dd4d45047e43b06b
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Fakenamegenerator.com is pretty good for these kinds of records, alot of
variety and can change order/formating for them but they do limit free
orders to 50k records.

http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/order.php

On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 8:06 PM, TG wrote:

> I remembered a coworker found an online resource that generated sample data
> for you. I hit google and I think I found it:
>
> http://www.generatedata.com/
>
> I I found it on a list of resources for data generation:
>
> http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/test-sample-data-generators /
>
>
> I've never used any of these, but once again.. Google is your friend.
>
> -TG
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brian Dunning
> To: php-general@lists.php.net, mysql@lists.mysql.com
> Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:52:41 -0800
> Subject: [PHP] Good source for sample data?
>
> > Hey all -
> >
> > I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address,
> email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses
> should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people
> or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address
> validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
> >
> > - Brian
> > --
> > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
> > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
> >
> >
>
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>
>

--0016e6d7e345dd4d45047e43b06b--

Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 02:38:22 von james stojan

Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 03:09:21 von John in Pueblo

On 1/28/2010 4:52 PM, Brian Dunning wrote:
> Hey all -
>
> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>
> - Brian

You can typically rip off a list of baby names online and can randomize
them on the name address and company. e-mail, web, phone, fax and zip
codes can be randomized, depending upon how accurate you need it to be.
Given a few hours you could write up a script in your language of
choice to get these records.

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 04:11:59 von Carlos Proal

Google for "data generator", there are free and commercial solutions
available.

Carlos

On 1/28/2010 5:52 PM, Brian Dunning wrote:
> Hey all -
>
> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>
> - Brian
>

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 04:18:53 von John Meyer

If I may recommend:
http://www.generatedata.com/#download

On 1/28/2010 8:11 PM, Carlos Proal wrote:
>
> Google for "data generator", there are free and commercial solutions
> available.
>
> Carlos
>
> On 1/28/2010 5:52 PM, Brian Dunning wrote:
>> Hey all -
>>
>> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address,
>> email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses
>> should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real
>> people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did
>> address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>>
>> - Brian
>
>

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 09:46:10 von Mark Goodge

On 29/01/2010 03:18, John Meyer wrote:
> If I may recommend:
> http://www.generatedata.com/#download

That's brilliant. The only minor issue is that, at least for UK data, it
won't validate for mapping purposes - the postcodes are syntactically
correct, but non-existent. I don't know if it would have the same
problem for US or Canadian data.

Mark

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Re: Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 13:15:31 von Michael Kubler

--------------070108010206030102070201
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Agree'd.
I've done this a couple of times. Usually best is to grab a couple of
free online dictionary lists. One for peoples names, another for
business names, then just randomly pull the data from the dictionaries.
Addresses, websites, phone numbers, and zip codes can all be randomly
generated, or you can use the GEONames database
to generate actual locations.

Also, wasn't there some test data available by MySQL? I think it was the
Sakila database
.

--
Michael Kubler
I believe in a better world. I support the Zeitgeist Movement

Shawn McKenzie wrote:
> Brian Dunning wrote:
>
>> Hey all -
>>
>> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>>
>> - Brian
>>
>
> It should be easy to code a routine to generate random data. Maybe 20 -
> 30 lines of code. Obviously you may have a name like Dgidfgq Xcvbop and
> company Wsdkn, but it shouldn't matter if testing is your purpose.
>
>

--------------070108010206030102070201--

RE: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 14:31:40 von Bob McConnell

The US Census Bureau has lists of first names and surnames online with a
breakdown of their frequency within the US population. It was very
simple to extract just the names into arrays. We found it quite useful
for generating database records for testing. YMMV.

Bob McConnell

-----Original Message-----
From: james stojan [mailto:james.stojan@gmail.com]=20
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 8:38 PM
To: TG
Cc: Brian Dunning; php-general@lists.php.net; mysql@lists.mysql.com
Subject: Re: [PHP] Good source for sample data?

Fakenamegenerator.com is pretty good for these kinds of records, alot of
variety and can change order/formating for them but they do limit free
orders to 50k records.

http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/order.php

On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 8:06 PM, TG
wrote:

> I remembered a coworker found an online resource that generated sample
data
> for you. I hit google and I think I found it:
>
> http://www.generatedata.com/
>
> I I found it on a list of resources for data generation:
>
> http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/test-sample-data-generators /
>
>
> I've never used any of these, but once again.. Google is your friend.
>
> -TG
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brian Dunning
> To: php-general@lists.php.net, mysql@lists.mysql.com
> Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:52:41 -0800
> Subject: [PHP] Good source for sample data?
>
> > Hey all -
> >
> > I need a few million sample contact records - name, company,
address,
> email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses
> should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real
people
> or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address
> validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
> >
> > - Brian
> > --
> > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
> > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
> >
> >
>
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>
>

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RE: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 14:31:40 von Bob McConnell

RE: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 16:12:40 von Jerry Schwartz

If you need "verifiable" mailing addresses (actual street/city/state/zip
combinations), you should look at some of the databases the USPS (usps.com)
has available. They are mostly for tracking delivery statistics, and the like,
but as a side effect they list streets all over the USA. The only thing you
won't have are street numbers and names, but you can easily generate random
combinations there.

By the way, if you need real-sounding names you can get a pile of first names
from http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/decades/names20 00s.html; I
used that information as part of security screening for a registration system.

Regards,

Jerry Schwartz
The Infoshop by Global Information Incorporated
195 Farmington Ave.
Farmington, CT 06032

860.674.8796 / FAX: 860.674.8341

www.the-infoshop.com

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Shawn McKenzie [mailto:nospam@mckenzies.net]
>Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:20 PM
>To: Brian Dunning
>Cc: php-general@lists.php.net; mysql@lists.mysql.com
>Subject: Re: Good source for sample data?
>
>Brian Dunning wrote:
>> Hey all -
>>
>> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address,
>> email,
>web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be
>correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies
>or
>email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or mapping.
>Anyone have a suggestion?
>>
>> - Brian
>
>It should be easy to code a routine to generate random data. Maybe 20 -
>30 lines of code. Obviously you may have a name like Dgidfgq Xcvbop and
>company Wsdkn, but it shouldn't matter if testing is your purpose.
>
>--
>Thanks!
>-Shawn
>http://www.spidean.com
>
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>For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql
>To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql?unsub=jschwartz@the-
>infoshop.com

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RE: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 16:12:40 von Jerry Schwartz

Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 16:18:40 von Martijn Tonies

Hello Brian,

We have a tool that can generate these kind of data, if you want
real data (like the ZIP-codes), you can supply it yourself and
use non-existent company names and al.

Have a look at www.upscene.com and go to "Advanced Data
Generator".

With regards,

Martijn Tonies
Upscene Productions
http://www.upscene.com

Download Database Workbench for Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase SQL
Anywhere, MySQL, InterBase, NexusDB and Firebird!

Database questions? Check the forum:
http://www.databasedevelopmentforum.com

I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, email,
web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses should be
correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people or companies
or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address validation or
mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?

- Brian
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RE: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 16:20:11 von Jerry Schwartz

>
>That's brilliant. The only minor issue is that, at least for UK data, it
>won't validate for mapping purposes - the postcodes are syntactically
>correct, but non-existent. I don't know if it would have the same
>problem for US or Canadian data.
>
[JS] Sorry, my suggestion won't work either: I didn't notice that you are from
the UK.

Well, the name part will work; and perhaps the UK has databases similar to
what the USPS (US Postal Service) makes available. I'd think they would, since
they are accountable to the public.
>Mark
>
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>infoshop.com

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 16:31:55 von Mark Goodge

On 29/01/2010 15:20, Jerry Schwartz wrote:
>>
>> That's brilliant. The only minor issue is that, at least for UK data, it
>> won't validate for mapping purposes - the postcodes are syntactically
>> correct, but non-existent. I don't know if it would have the same
>> problem for US or Canadian data.
>>
> [JS] Sorry, my suggestion won't work either: I didn't notice that you are from
> the UK.
>
> Well, the name part will work; and perhaps the UK has databases similar to
> what the USPS (US Postal Service) makes available. I'd think they would, since
> they are accountable to the public.

You might think so; you'd be wrong! In the UK, postcode data - even a
comprehensive list of allocated postcodes - is the copyright of Royal
Mail and only available under license.

(Off-topic, but relevant to UK-based developers: please take a look at
my blog at http://mark.goodge.co.uk/musings/422/locate-that-postcode/
for a topical twist on this)

Mark

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 16:32:43 von Martijn Tonies

>> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address,
>> email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses
>> should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people
>> or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address
>> validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?
>>
>> - Brian
>
> It should be easy to code a routine to generate random data. Maybe 20 -
> 30 lines of code. Obviously you may have a name like Dgidfgq Xcvbop and
> company Wsdkn, but it shouldn't matter if testing is your purpose.

Actually, this DOES matter...

Test data can be required for all sorts of purposes, for example:

- running a demo of the application
- testing real life-like data entry
- trial versions that include data
- course-ware for your application when it gets implemented by a company
- decent value distribution in indices

This is why our tool, Advanced Data Generator, allows you to
generate life-like company names, has libraries for first/last names
and much more.

With regards,

Martijn Tonies
Upscene Productions
http://www.upscene.com

Download Database Workbench for Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase SQL
Anywhere, MySQL, InterBase, NexusDB and Firebird!

Database questions? Check the forum:
http://www.databasedevelopmentforum.com

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RE: Good source for sample data?

am 29.01.2010 17:06:25 von Jerry Schwartz

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Goodge [mailto:mark@good-stuff.co.uk]
>Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 10:32 AM
>To: mysql@lists.mysql.com
>Subject: Re: Good source for sample data?
>
>On 29/01/2010 15:20, Jerry Schwartz wrote:

>> [JS] Sorry, my suggestion won't work either: I didn't notice that you are
>from
>> the UK.
>>
>> Well, the name part will work; and perhaps the UK has databases similar to
>> what the USPS (US Postal Service) makes available. I'd think they would,
>since
>> they are accountable to the public.
>
>You might think so; you'd be wrong! In the UK, postcode data - even a
>comprehensive list of allocated postcodes - is the copyright of Royal
>Mail and only available under license.
>
[JS] Well, then we just need to get Her Highness to subscribe to this list.
:<)

Regards,

Jerry Schwartz
The Infoshop by Global Information Incorporated
195 Farmington Ave.
Farmington, CT 06032

860.674.8796 / FAX: 860.674.8341

www.the-infoshop.com

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Re: [PHP] Good source for sample data?

am 30.01.2010 00:08:49 von Brian Dunning

Thanks for the suggestions but I couldn't find any that suited my needs, =
so I made my own. Feel free to download if you can use them, I made =
files with up to a million unique records.

Name, Company, Address, Phone, Email, etc., all are fake but are real =
addresses with correct area codes, zips, exchange, so will work for =
mapping, phone or address validation, whatever your needs are. Hope =
someone find it useful.

http://www.briandunning.com/sample-data/

On Jan 28, 2010, at 3:52 PM, Brian Dunning wrote:

> I need a few million sample contact records - name, company, address, =
email, web, phone, fax. ZIP codes and area codes and street addresses =
should be correct and properly formatted, but preferably not real people =
or companies or email addresses. But they'd work if you did address =
validation or mapping. Anyone have a suggestion?

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Re: [PHP] Good source for sample data?

am 30.01.2010 00:08:49 von Brian Dunning

Re: Good source for sample data?

am 30.01.2010 20:31:50 von TedD

At 3:08 PM -0800 1/29/10, Brian Dunning wrote:
>Thanks for the suggestions but I couldn't find any that suited my
>needs, so I made my own. Feel free to download if you can use them,
>I made files with up to a million unique records.
>
>Name, Company, Address, Phone, Email, etc., all are fake but are
>real addresses with correct area codes, zips, exchange, so will work
>for mapping, phone or address validation, whatever your needs are.
>Hope someone find it useful.
>
>http://www.briandunning.com/sample-data/

Brian:

Thanks -- that was very nice of you.

Cheers,

tedd

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Re: Good source for sample data?

am 30.01.2010 20:31:50 von TedD

Re: Good source for sample data?

am 01.02.2010 23:43:48 von Clancy

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:08:49 -0800, brian@briandunning.com (Brian Dunning) wrote:

>Thanks for the suggestions but I couldn't find any that suited my needs, so I made my own. Feel free to download if you can use them, I made files with up to a million unique records.
>
>Name, Company, Address, Phone, Email, etc., all are fake but are real addresses with correct area codes, zips, exchange, so will work for mapping, phone or address validation, whatever your needs are. Hope someone find it useful.
>
>http://www.briandunning.com/sample-data/

Thank you for this. I was just wondering where I could get a reasonably large set of
sample data to demonstrate my mailmerge type program, and this will serve the purpose
nicely. It will also enable me to test it on a much larger set of data than my laboriously
assembled private address book (which has 666 entries).

(My program worked well with the 500 entry file, but had serious problems with the 5000
entry file. However when I cut this back to 1700 entries it again worked correctly, though
it was a bit slow.)

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