# Generate rows

The **Generate rows** step outputs a specified number of rows. By default, the rows are empty, but they can include static fields.

You can use this step to generate a fixed number of rows for testing purposes. For example, you can generate exactly 12 rows for 12 months. You can also use the step to generate one row as a starting point for your transformation (for example, a row that contains field values used to parameterize SQL).

### Options

The Generate rows step has the following options:

| Option                           | Description                                                                                                             |
| -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Step name**                    | Specify the unique name of the step on the canvas. The default is **Generate rows**.                                    |
| **Limit**                        | Specify the maximum number of rows to generate.                                                                         |
| **Never stop generating rows**   | Select to keep generating rows. This can be useful for real-time use cases such as recurring polling.                   |
| **Interval in ms (delay)**       | Specify the interval (in milliseconds) between generated rows. The default is 5000.                                     |
| **Current row time field name**  | Optional name for the date field containing the time the current row was generated. The default is `now`.               |
| **Previous row time field name** | Optional name for the date field containing the time the previous row was generated. The default is `five seconds ago`. |

### Fields

The Generate rows step includes the following columns to configure the structure and values of the rows you generate.

| Column                | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Name**              | The field name.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| **Type**              | <p>The data type. Available types:</p><ul><li>BigNumber</li><li>Binary</li><li>Boolean</li><li>Date</li><li>Integer</li><li>Internet Address</li><li>Number</li><li>String</li><li>Timestamp</li></ul>                                 |
| **Format**            | <p>Number or date format used for data generation. See <a href="/pages/7QdsUSMoGpAEmMzKkv2J">Common Formats</a>.</p><p><strong>Note:</strong> Format is applied only when converting a non-string data type to a string data type.</p> |
| **Length**            | Output data length.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Precision**         | Output data precision.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| **Currency**          | Currency symbol used during data generation.                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Decimal**           | Decimal symbol used during data generation.                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| **Group**             | Grouping symbol used during data generation.                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Value**             | Field value.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Set empty string?** | Select **Y** to replace null values with empty strings, or **N** to keep null values.                                                                                                                                                  |


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