Ape

The Ape API is how I thought a data-mocker API should look like. I needed it to create similar chunks of raw data for projects and tests, and thought it could be a good idea to share it with the rest of the world. I believe that the API I proposed here makes it simple and easy to create complex template-based JSON objects.

Why Ape?

Because apes like to mimic (or "mock") real human behavior... ;) Also, API sounds like Ape-PI.

Usage

Use the Ape function to generate a new mock object. Ape receives a template object that is consisted of string keys and primitive or Ape operators as values:

import Ape, { name, age } from 'ape-mock';

const template = Ape({
  firstName: name().male(),
  lastName: name().lastName(),
  age: age().adult(),
});

// call the generate method to create a new object out of the template above
template.generate();

Ape

This is the template builder. It can receive an object or an array and returns a template object.

| Method | Arguments | Description | | -------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | generate | None | Creates an object with mock data, based on the template supplied to Ape |

name

Generate random names. The name value can be mutated with the following methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | male | None | Set the first name to be male | | female | None | Set the first name to be female | | noFirstName | None | Don't generate a first name | | middleName | None | Generate a middle name | | abbrMiddleName | None | Generate an abbreviated middle name (W. instead of William) | | lastName | None | Generate a last name | | lastNameFirst | None | Place the last name first in this format: lastName, firstName middleName |

If not specified, the gender will be random

name().female().middleName().abbrMiddleName().lastNameFirst()
// will generate a female name such as Cooper, Whitney E.

age

Generate a random age. Mutation methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | -------- | --------- | ----------------------------------- | | baby | None | Generates an age between 0 and 4 | | child | None | Generates an age between 4 and 14 | | teenager | None | Generates an age between 14 and 20 | | adult | None | Generates an age between 20 and 67 | | senior | None | Generates an age between 67 and 120 | | setMin | Number | Sets the minimum age | | setMax | Number | Sets the maximum age |

If not specified, a random age between 0 and 120 will be generated

age().teenager()
// will generate an age between 14 and 20

text

Manipulate a supplied string.

| Method | Arguments | Description | | --------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | randomizeLength | Number | Get a random number of words between 1 and the string's length | | minLength | Number | Set the minimum length of the randomLength method | | maxLength | Number | Set the maximum length of the randomLength method | | randomizeOrder | None | Randomize the order of the result string | | randomSequence | None | Randomize the string before exctracting the text |

text('We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile.').maxLength(4)

loremIpsum

Generate a string extract from a lorem ipsum paragraph. Mutation methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | --------------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | randomizeLength | Number | Get a random number of words between 1 and the paragraph's length | | minLength | Number | Set the minimum length of the randomLength method | | maxLength | Number | Set the maximum length of the randomLength method | | randomizeOrder | None | Randomize the order of the result lorem ipsum string | | randomSequence | None | Randomize the lorem ipsum paragraph before exctracting the text |

loremIpsum().maxLength(5)
// result: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,

image

Generate a placeholder image (a link to a real image). Mutation methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | -------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | width | Number | Image width | | height | Number | Image height | | specific | String | If not specified, a random image will be generated each time |

If not specified, the default width and height are 420x320

image().width(100).height(50);

fromValues

Takes an array of values. The output will be a random value from the array.

fromValues(['Manager', 'Developer', 'IT', 'QA'])

color

Generate a color. Mutation methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | ---------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | specific | String | Returns only the specified color. Requires a hex-formatted color | | asRGB | None | The value will be in RGB format | | removeHash | None | If the result is in hexadecimal, the # symbol will be removed from it | | setAlpha | Number | Set an alpha channel. This will automatically set the format to RGB |

color().setAlpha(0.5)
// rgb(r, g, b, a)

date

Generates a date. Mutation methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | --------------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | random | None | Generates a random date between Jan 1, 1970 and now | | startMinutesAgo | Number | Sets the minimum date to x minutes ago | | startDaysAgo | Number | Sets the minimum date to x days ago | | startYearsAgo | Number | Sets the minimum date to x years ago | | endMinutesAgo | Number | Sets the maximum date to x minutes ago | | endDaysAgo | Number | Sets the maximum date to x days ago | | endYearsAgo | Number | Sets the maximum date to x years ago | | startAt | Date | Sets the start time | | endAt | Date | Sets the end time |

date().random().startYearsAgo(30)
// a date between 30 years ago and now

arrayOf

Generate an array of a specific value. The value can also be an Ape object (see example). Mutation methods:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | ------ | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | repeat | Number | The number of times the supplied object will be cloned | | random | Number, Number? | Clone the supplied object x number of times. The second argument is the minimum number of clones, which defaults to 1 if not passed. |

Ape({
  blogPosts: arrayOf({
    title: loremIpsum().minLength(5).randomizeLength(10).randomizeOrder(),
    thumbnail: image(),
    publishDate: date().startYearsAgo(5).random()
  })
}.random(10, 3))

// an array of 3-10 blogPost items 

email

Generate an email address:

| Method | Arguments | Description | | ----------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | gmail | None | Set gmail as the email provider | | outlook | None | Set outlook as the email provider | | icloud | None | Set icloud as the email provider | | yahoo | None | Set yahoo as the email provider | | aol | None | Set aol as the email provider | | setProvider | String | Set your own email provider | | setUser | String | Set the email's user | | male | None | Use a random male user | | female | None | Use a random female user | | useDot | None | Will format the email address with a dot in the user field ([email protected]) | | useEmail | None | Use a static email address |

If no user was provided, a random one will be selected setEmail and setProvider do not validate the data they receive

email: email().gmail().male().useDot()
// will generate a random email like this: [email protected]