Populating a Microsoft SQL Server Database Table with Dummy Data

If you are learning to be an ASP.NET full-stack web developer, it is essential to have a solid working knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server (or some other database) and an IDE like Visual Studio. One of the best ways to learn is to get your hands dirty by building applications using generic or dummy data from a database.

Dummy database tables can be beneficial in expediting the learning process becasue you are not wasting time creating your own data.

So that you are not spending time manually adding data to your tables line-by-line, here is sample data that you can use to populate Microsoft SQL Server database tables. Use this data to test, update, edit, or otherwise manipulate with a CRUD application or Web API.

Dummy Data for an Employee Table

CREATE TABLE Employee
    (EmpID INT NOT NULL ,
        EmpName VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
        Designation VARCHAR(50) NULL,
        Department VARCHAR(50) NULL,
        JoiningDate DATETIME NULL,
        CONSTRAINT [PK_Employee] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (EmpID)
    )
-- ADD ROWS TO THE TABLE.
-- TESTED IN SQL SERVER 2012.
INSERT INTO Employee
    (EmpID, EmpName, Designation, Department, JoiningDate)
VALUES
    (1, 'Chin Yen', 'Lab Assistant', 'Lab', Getdate()),
    (2, 'Mike Pearl', 'Senior Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (3, 'Green Field', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (4, 'Dewane Paul', 'Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (5, 'Matts Williams', 'Sr. Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (6, 'Plank Oto', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (7, 'James Smith', 'Senior Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (8, 'Michael Smith', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (9, 'Robert Paul', 'Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (10, 'Maria Matts', 'Sr. Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (11, 'David Smith', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (12, 'Maria Rodriguez', 'Senior Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (13, 'Lance Perryman', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (14, 'Mary Smith Paul', 'Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (15, 'Candice Hernandez', 'Sr. Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (16, 'James Verboon', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (17, 'Maria Martinez', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate()),
    (18, 'James Johnson', 'Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (19, 'Matthew Fencing', 'Sr. Programmer', 'It', Getdate()),
    (20, 'Oto Lemon', 'Accountant', 'Accounts', Getdate())

A Comprehensive Solution: Use Microsoft's AdventureWorks Database

Microsoft created a complete database around a fictitious multi-national company named Adventure Works. You can download a .bak file of this database, restore it to your local installation of SQL Server, and use the information it contains to build your web application. However, this database may be a little overwhelming for the beginner since it has scores of tables—some of these tables have thousands of rows of data.

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