Group Shuffle
Purpose
The Group Shuffle masking format enables you to randomly reorder (shuffle) column data within discrete units, or groups, where there is a relationship among the members of each group.
Inputs
- Grouping Columns (Optional): One or more reference columns that should be used to group the values in the column to be masked. The grouping columns and the column to be masked must belong to the same table.
Supported Data Types
- Character
- Numeric
- Date
Characteristics
- Supports Double-Byte Characters: Yes
- Combinable: No
- Deterministic: No
- Reversible: No
- Uniqueness: Yes, this masking format ensures uniqueness for columns that have unique constraints
Example
Suppose you have two groups of employees: managers (M) and workers (W). You want to shuffle all the salaries, but you do not want the salaries of the managers getting mixed into the salaries of the workers. You can use the Group Shuffle masking format to shuffle the SALARY column within each group, which is derived from the unique values in the JOB_CATEGORY column.
The following table illustrates a group shuffle on the SALARY column, where the JOB_CATEGORY column is the grouping column. The rows with JOB_CATEGORY = M belong to one group and the SALARY values belonging to this group are shuffled within the group. Similarly, the rows with JOB_CATEGORY = W belong to another group and the SALARY values belonging to this group are shuffled within the group.
| EMPLOYEE | JOB_CATEGORY | SALARY | SHUFFLED_SALARY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alice | M | 90 | 88 |
| Bill | M | 88 | 90 |
| Carol | W | 72 | 70 |
| Denise | W | 57 | 45 |
| Eddie | W | 70 | 57 |
| Frank | W | 45 | 72 |