Custom Conversions

goal

A Conversion function processes the input from the table column to something that can be used by a mask or randomize Rule.

To write your own Custom Conversion function, simply implement the IConversion.java interface and @Override the Object convert(String input) function.

Place your custom Java function inside your root package/conversions folder in the genereated project.

Notes

• The column is always read as a String
• Use a conversion to change the type or manipulate the data entry
• The convert function always assumes a String input, and may return any other Object type
• When used for a randomize rules, it converts the string into a type supported for the randomize rule

Conversion Interface

public interface IConversion {
    Object convert(String input) throws Exception;
}

Java Examples

ParseDigits.java

public class ParseDigits implements IConversion {

    public static final String LABEL = "ParseDigits - simply remove all non-digits";

    @Override
    public Object convert(String txt) {
        if(txt==null)
            return "0";
        char[] chars = txt.toCharArray();
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        for (char c : chars) {
            if(Character.isDigit(c))
                sb.append(c);
        }
        return sb.length()==0?"0":sb.toString();
    }
}

TabDelim1.java

Tabdelim1 for file input-sources, containing multiple columns of data

• If input source text file contains multiple columns of data, a conversion may be created to assign the correct delimited value.
  • E.g., a text file containing a City, State and Zip Code delimited by a tab can have an associated conversion file
  • All columns can use the same input text file with similar conversion function and as long as it is using sequence and repeatable random it will pick the same line from text file.

public class TabDelim1 implements IConversion {

    public static final String LABEL = "TabDelim1 - Pick from first file column, delimited by tab";

    @Override
    public Object convert(String input) throws Exception {
        return input.split("\\t")[0];
    }

}

ANO Usage Examples

• You must explicitly import Custom Conversion functions before the Tasks and Rules Section

ParseDigits in ANO

table Person
    column text age
        size 16

conversion example.anonymizer.conversions.ParseDigits

task MyTask  {
    update Person
        mask age
            format %s
            column age
                convert ParseDigits // Remove digits from column values
}

TabDelim1 in ANO

table Person
    column text city
        size 16
    column text postalCode
        size 16

conversion example.anonymizer.conversions.TabDelim1
conversion example.anonymizer.conversions.TabDelim2

task MyTask  {
    update Person
        mask city
            format %s
            file src/main/resources/locations.txt
                convert TabDelim1
        mask postalCode
            format %s
            file src/main/resources/locations.txt
                convert TabDelim2
}