Masking Functions

Masks are the basic "building-block" algorithms provided by DataMasque for generating and manipulating column values. Multiple masks can be combined in a list to create a pipeline of transformations on the data, or combined using combinator masks to build up more complex output values.

Parameters

Mask algorithms are defined by their type parameter - this parameter is common to (and required by) all masks:

• type (required) determines the type of mask, and therefore what other parameters can be specified.

Note: Masks operate by either manipulating the original column value, or by generating an entirely new value that replaces the original value. The behaviour depends on the mask type.

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• Generic masks
  • Fixed value (from_fixed)
    Outputs a fixed value
  • From column (from_column)
    Outputs from another column (or table)
  • From file (from_file)
    Generates values sourced from a CSV file
  • From blob (from_blob)
    Outputs a value that is the entire contents of a file
  • From format string (from_format_string)
    Generates random values according to a format string
  • From choices (from_choices)
    Generates a random value picked from a (optionally weighted) set of values.
• String masks
  • Imitate (imitate)
    Replaces characters with other characters from the same set (letters for letters, numbers for numbers)
  • Random text (from_random_text)
    Generates random strings of letters
  • Transform case (transform_case)
    Transforms the case of characters in a string
  • Substring (take_substring)
    Extracts a substring from a column's value
  • Replace substring (replace_substring)
    Applies masks to a specific portion of string values
  • Replace regular expression (replace_regex)
    Applies masks to parts of string values that match a given regular expression
  • Substitute (substitute) (deprecated)
    Deprecated - Use imitate instead
• Data Pattern Masks
  • Credit Card (credit_card)
    Replaces credit card values with random ones
  • Brazilian CPF (brazilian_cpf)
    Replaces Brazilian CPF numbers with random ones
  • Social Security Number (social_security_number)
    Replaces social security numbers with random ones
• Numeric masks
  • Random Number (from_random_number)
    Generates a random integer/decimal between two numbers - supports triangular or uniform distribution
  • Random Boolean (from_random_boolean)
    Generates a random true/false or 1/0 value
  • Numeric Bucket (numeric_bucket)
    Generates replacement numbers whilst retaining specified ranges
• Date/time masks
  • Random date/time (from_random_datetime)
    Generates random dates and times
  • Random date (from_random_date)
    Generates random dates (without time components)
  • Retain age (retain_age)
    Transforms values into random date times that preserve the age (in years)
  • Retain date component (retain_date_component)
    Transforms specific parts of a date to be random
  • Retain year (retain_year)
    Transforms a date time randomly whilst keeping the same year
• Transformation masks
  • Typecast (typecast)
    Converts data to a different type
  • Do nothing (do_nothing)
    Prevents specific data from being masked
• Combination masks
  • Concatenate (concat)
    Combines the output of multiple mask operations together
  • Chain (chain)
    Chains multiple mask operations, passing the output of one to the next
• Unique Masks
  • From Unique (from_unique)
    Generates random but unique strings or numbers, from a format string (databases only)
  • From Unique Imitate (from_unique_imitate)
    Transforms strings or numbers to be random, retaining format and uniqueness
• Document masks
  • JSON (json)
    Masks data inside JSON documents
  • XML (xml)
    Masks data inside XML documents