---
title: "MassDataHandler: generate test data to help with data layer testing"
url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2006/10/15/massdatahandler-generate-test-data-to-help-with-data-layer-t.md"
canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2006/10/15/massdatahandler-generate-test-data-to-help-with-data-layer-t.html"
published: "2006-10-15T14:25:04"
updated: "2006-10-15T14:25:04"
tags: ["Agile", "Art Of Unit Testing", "Cool Tools", "Testing Guidelines", "Unit Testing"]
author: "Roy Osherove"
description: "Yet another tool to help with integration tests against the database layer(got this by email: \"I wanted to let you know about an open source tool I created to help unit test the data access layer.…"
usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)."
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# MassDataHandler: generate test data to help with data layer testing

By Roy Osherove October 15, 2006 In [Agile](https://osherove.com/blog/category/agile), [Art Of Unit Testing](https://osherove.com/blog/category/art-of-unit-testing), [Cool Tools](https://osherove.com/blog/category/cool-tools), [Testing Guidelines](https://osherove.com/blog/category/testing-guidelines), [Unit Testing](https://osherove.com/blog/category/unit-testing)

**Historical article** · Originally published October 15, 2006; technical details may be outdated.

Yet another tool to help with integration tests against the database layer(got this by email:

> "I wanted to let you know about an open source tool I created to help unit test the data access layer.
>
> [http://www.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=MassDataHandler](http://www.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=MassDataHandler)
>
> This tool uses knowledge of the database schema to do all the grunt work and let you store your test data in an easy xml file. It has an API so that you can call it from within any test framework. The download has a 10-step tutorial that is an MSTest project with its own live test database. The name of the tool is MassDataHandler, and it’s available for free from Microsoft’s new CodePlex site. I’m using it every day to help generate test data, especially in my unit tests for complex stored procs.
>
> ...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim"

Cool. I'll have to check it out then.

## More in Agile

[All posts in Agile](https://osherove.com/blog/category/agile)

- Nov 17, 2006

    ### [Scrum Vs. XP - Why Scrum is easier to sell](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/11/17/scrum-vs-xp-why-scrum-is-easier-to-sell.html)

- Nov 7, 2006

    ### [Agile Development Sessions - Slides and Demos from TechEd](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/11/7/agile-development-sessions-slides-and-demos-from-teched.html)

- Oct 14, 2006

    ### [DataFresh - Database rollback library for unit tests](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/10/14/datafresh-database-rollback-library-for-unit-tests.html)

- Oct 11, 2006

    ### [Good Agile, Bad Agile](https://osherove.com/blog/2006/10/11/good-agile-bad-agile.html)


---

## About the author

**Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery.

### Sites

- [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership.
- [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts.
- [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin.
- [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model.
- [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps.
- [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes).

### Social

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- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osherove/

### Contact

- Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7

### License

Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/