random_data gem released

I just released my first Ruby gem. I have a library of functions that I use for generating realistic data so I can have more meaningful examples to work with during development. So I used the newgem generator and hoe to package it all into a gem called random_data.

It provides a Random singleton class with a series of methods for generating random test data including names, mailing addresses, dates, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and text. This lets you quickly mock up realistic looking data for informal testing.

Instead of:

>> foo.name = "John Doe"

You get:

>> foo.name = "#{Random.firstname} #{Random.initial} #{Random.lastname}"

>> foo.name
=> "Miriam R. Xichuan"

The gem also includes code for phone numbers, e-mail addresses, physical addresses, and (primitive) text generation.

You can install it via:

sudo gem install random_data

For more details and full documentation, visit the rubyforge site.