#dummydata excel random data generate

[viztips]

Generating Dummy Data Sets

Creating dummy data is often a big pain; making variations and randomizing the values can become a pretty manual process.

Microsoft Excel can make the process far less painful, specifically using the rand() and randbetween() functions.

The =Randbetween([start num], [end num]) formula can be used to generate random whole numbers. If you are seeking to generate fake transaction amounts, which are decimal numbers, simply specify your range in the rand between function, multiply by the rand function (generates a number between 0 and 1) and then round off to the correct number of digits.

For instance, generating dollar amounts you can use the following formula:

=round(rand() * randbetween([min num],[max num]) ,2) 

Dates can also be generated as

=randbetween(date([stardate]), date([enddate])) 

For non numeric values, instances where you would like to randomize country codes or customer types, simply create a separate lookup table with unique values for your data set, and add an index column with the values numbering each row. Next, use the randbetween function inside a vlookup.

=vlookup(randbetween(1,[endnum]), [lookupref], [colref]) 

At the end you can copy all the cells and then paste as values to remove the formulas.

Happy data generating!