Random List
Purpose
The Random List masking format randomly selects values from a list of values to replace the original column values.
Inputs
- List of Values: A comma-separated list of values that should be used to replace column values. The data type of each value in the list must be compatible with the data type of the column. If using a list of dates, the dates should be in format
YYYY-MM-DD. The number of entries in the list cannot be more than 999.
Supported Data Types
- Character
- Numeric
- Date
Characteristics
- Supports Double-Byte Characters: Yes
- Combinable: Yes
- Deterministic: No
- Reversible: No
- Uniqueness: Yes. The input list must have unique values, and the number of values in the list must be greater than or equal to the number of values in the column to be masked.
Example 1
Suppose you have a column with values 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. You can replace these values with random values from an input list (99, 100, 101, 102, 103) by using the Random List masking format. The following table compares the values in the original column (ORIGINAL) to the values after the first masking job (MASK1) and second masking job (MASK2). Notice that the masked values change each time the masking job runs.
| ORIGINAL | MASK1 | MASK2 |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 101 | 100 |
| 20 | 103 | 99 |
| 30 | 100 | 101 |
| 40 | 99 | 102 |
| 50 | 102 | 103 |
Example 2
The following table shows you how a MARITAL_STATUS column, consisting of five distinct values, gets masked with the Random List masking format. The list of values for the masking format is Single, Married, and Divorced.
| MARITAL_STATUS | MASKED_MARITAL_STATUS |
|---|---|
| Single | Divorced |
| Married | Single |
| Windowed | Divorced |
| Single | Married |
| Divorced | Married |
| Separated | Single |