Effect

An effect generates inputs to a channel. For example, the following effect generates user creation input roughly once per hour:

trigger: hz(1, hour)
channel: db
metadata:
  table: USERS
generator:
  type: object
  properties:
    name:
      type: string
      pattern: .{10,50}
    age:
      type: number
      minimum: 18
      scale: 0

#Parameters

An effect's trigger defines when it emits inputs. If not specified, an effect will emit roughly one input per day.

The value is in Hertz but is also an expression, so you can use the more readable hz function instead of a raw number:

hz(5, minute)

rngo builds in variance, so the observed rate over any sub-interval of the simulation may be higher or lower than the configured one.

You can also configure growth by referencing offset:

hz(3, hour) + (0.0001 * offset)

The expression is sampled periodically over the course of the simulation, so the observed frequency will change in steps.

Trigger frequency will always be adjusted to be greater than or equal to zero and less than 1000 Hz.

When the effect starts.

Must be between the simulation's start and end, and must come before this effect's end. Defaults to the simulation's start.

May be expressed as either an ISO-8601 string, or a time expression.

When the effect ends.

Must be between the simulation's start and end, and must come after this effect's start. Defaults to the simulation's end.

May be expressed as either an ISO-8601 string, or a time expression.

All effects are bound to a channel:

channels:
  mydb:
    type: stream
    command: sqlite3 db.sqlite
    format:
      type: sql
effects:
  users.create:
    channel: mydb
    metadata:
      table: USERS
    generator: ...

If an effect does not specify a channel, the data will still be captured in the run log.

An effect may specify metadata, which is an arbitrary map:

effects:
  create.article:
    channel: mysql
    metadata:
      table: Article
    generator: ...

In this case, the effect's metadata is meaningful to it's "mysql" channel. Assuming the channel uses the "sql" format, it will use the table metadata field as the table name when formatting SQL statements.

Defines the structure and content of its inputs.

See the generator reference for more details.

#Examples

DB History

To backfill user creation history, write an effect stream that runs from simulation start until "now" and route the events directly to the "db" channel.

trigger: hz(10, hour)
end: now
channel: db
metadata:
  table: USERS
generator:
  type: object
  properties:
    id:
      type: number
      minimum: 1
      scale: 0
      step: 1
    name:
      type: string
      pattern: .{10,50}
    age:
      type: number
      minimum: 18
      scale: 0
    created_at:
      type: context
      path: ["clock", "now"]

API Calls

Route realtime effects - i.e. happnening after "now" - to public channels, in this case the "api" channel.

trigger: "hz(15, minute)"
start: now
end: now + minutes(3)
channel: api
generator:
  type: object
  properties:
    method:
      type: constant
      value: POST
    path:
      type: constant
      value: /articles
    body:
      type: object
      properties:
        authorId:
          type: function
          expression: "author.id"
          variables:
            author:
              type: reference
              effect: user.create
        title:
          type: string
          pattern: .{20,100}
        body:
          type: string
          pattern: .{100,1500}