211 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
211 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
# fakes
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A Go library for generating fake data, built for **internationalization**. It
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exists because the existing Go fake libraries lacked the locale coverage and
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format control we needed.
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- **Standards first** — formats, names and structures follow international and
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local standards first and foremost.
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- **Locale-aware** — names, addresses, postal codes and phone numbers follow
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per-locale data and formats. Locales are always full language + territory
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tags (`sv_SE`, never `sv`).
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- **Data lives in JSON** — all source data is recursive JSON on disk, read when
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you create a faker and then served from memory. Add or change locales without
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touching the library.
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- **Composable** — templates nest without limit: weighted choices, character
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classes and sub-templates combine to model any format.
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- **Reproducible** — seed a faker and it emits the same sequence every time.
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- **Zero dependencies** — standard library only.
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## Install
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```sh
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go get github.com/Timewave-AB/fakes
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```
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Requires Go 1.26+.
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## Usage
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Point `New` at a locale directory, then generate values by category path with
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`Fake`. The first path segment names a category (a JSON file); deeper dotted
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segments descend into it.
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```go
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package main
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import (
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"fmt"
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"log"
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"github.com/Timewave-AB/fakes"
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)
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func main() {
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f, err := fakes.New("./locales/sv_SE")
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if err != nil {
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log.Fatal(err)
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}
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for _, path := range []string{"person", "address", "phone", "address.locality"} {
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v, err := f.Fake(path)
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if err != nil {
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log.Fatal(err)
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}
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fmt.Printf("%-18s %s\n", path, v)
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}
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}
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```
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```
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person Sara Eriksson
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address Kungsvägen 68
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379 17 Stockholm
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phone 072-402 91 67
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address.locality Linköping
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```
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Seed a faker for reproducible output — same seed + locale yields an identical
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sequence, handy for stable tests:
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```go
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a, _ := fakes.New("./locales/sv_SE", fakes.WithSeed(42))
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b, _ := fakes.New("./locales/sv_SE", fakes.WithSeed(42))
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av, _ := a.Fake("person")
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bv, _ := b.Fake("person")
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av == bv // true
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```
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A `*Fakes` is **not** safe for concurrent use — create one per goroutine.
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### Locales
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The library ships a ready-to-use set under [`locales/`](locales) (`en_US`,
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`sv_SE`). Pass `New` the path to one of them, a copy, or your own directory —
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anywhere on disk.
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Each ships these categories, formatted per locale (e.g. `date` is `MM/DD/YYYY`
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in `en_US`, `YYYY-MM-DD` in `sv_SE`; `ssn` is a US SSN vs a Swedish
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personnummer): `address`, `color`, `company`, `date`, `email`, `ip`, `person`,
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`phone`, `price`, `sentence`, `ssn`, `time`, `url`, `username`, `uuid`,
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`version`, `word`.
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The directory's name is the locale and must be a full tag (`sv_SE`, never
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`sv`). Any casing or separator is accepted and canonicalised (`sv-se`,
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`SV_SE` → `sv_SE`); a non-full name returns an error.
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## Locale data format
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Each JSON file in a locale directory is a **category** named after the file
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(`address.json` → `address`), rendered by `Fake("address")`. Drop in a new file
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or folder — no code change, no recompile.
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Every value is a **node**, one of three shapes, nestable without limit:
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| Node | JSON | Meaning |
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|------|------|---------|
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| literal | `"Malmö"` | emitted verbatim — never formatted |
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| choice | `["a", "b", …]` | one element, picked at random |
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| template | `{"format": "…", …}` | a format string plus the named sub-nodes it references |
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**Weight.** A template node may carry a `weight` (default `1`) to skew its odds
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within a choice:
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```json
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[
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{ "format": "#070-000 00 00", "weight": 10 },
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{ "format": "#01-000 00 00" },
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{ "format": "#010-000 00 00" }
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]
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```
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**Format string.** Every character is literal except:
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| Token | Expands to |
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|-------|-----------|
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| `0` | digit 0–9 |
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| `1` | digit 1–9 |
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| `A` | letter A–Z |
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| `a` | letter a–z |
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| `#` | escape — the next char is literal (`#0` → `0`, `##` → `#`) |
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| `{name}` | render the sibling field `name` |
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`{a|b}` renders one of the sibling fields `a` or `b`, chosen at random.
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**Putting it together** (`person.json`):
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```json
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[
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{
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"format": "{prefix}{femalefirst|malefirst} {last}",
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"femalefirst": ["Anna", "Astrid", "Elin"],
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"malefirst": ["Anders", "Erik", "Gustav"],
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"last": [
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{ "format": "{first}sson", "first": ["Ander", "Erik", "Karl"] },
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["Berg", "von Flemming"]
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],
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"prefix": [
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"",
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{ "format": "{string} ", "string": ["dr", "prof"], "weight": 0.05 }
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]
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}
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]
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```
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This yields e.g. `Anna Eriksson`, `Erik Berg`, or rarely `dr Astrid von Flemming`.
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Any field is reachable by dotted path — `Fake("person.last")` renders just a
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surname; choices along the path are resolved at random.
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### Performance
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Each file is parsed, validated and weight-indexed once, in `New`. After that a
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`Fake` call costs about what its output costs — it scans the chosen format and
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renders nested tokens, independent of how large your lists are:
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- Picking from a list is **O(1)** whatever its length — a 10-name list and a
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100 000-name list cost the same.
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- Giving entries a `weight` makes that list's pick **O(log n)** instead (a
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search over cumulative weights). Still tiny, but an unweighted list is the
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cheapest — only add `weight` where you actually want skew.
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- Long `format` strings, deep nesting and many `{tokens}` add cost in
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proportion to the output produced.
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## Development
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Everything runs in Docker — **no local tooling beyond Docker is needed**.
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Source is bind-mounted; build caches persist in the `gocache` volume.
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```sh
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docker compose run --rm test # run tests
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docker compose run --rm ci # vet + format check + tests
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docker compose run --rm cover # tests with coverage
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docker compose run --rm build # compile the library
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docker compose run --rm vet # go vet
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docker compose run --rm dev # interactive shell
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```
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Commands that rewrite source keep your file ownership when run with `--user`:
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```sh
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docker compose run --rm --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" fmt # gofmt -w .
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docker compose run --rm --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" tidy # go mod tidy
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```
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`docker build .` runs `go vet` and the tests, so it works as a CI gate too.
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## Layout
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```
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fakes.go Fakes, New, options, seeding
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template.go Fake, the recursive renderer (choices, format strings, paths)
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locale.go locale loading + tag parsing
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locales/ shipped locale data (JSON)
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```
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To add a category, drop a JSON file into a locale directory; to add a locale,
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add a directory named with its full tag.
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## License
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MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
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