Redgate Test Data Manager

What are starting tables?

Specify tables and filter clauses to start from
TDM follows foreign key relationships
Collects all related data

Specify one or more tables and optional filter clauses to start from. Test Data Manager follows foreign key relationships from these starting points, collecting all related data.

When to use:

You need specific data (e.g., "All orders for customers in London")
You're testing features that require particular records
You want precise control over included data

How to configure:

Select Custom from the Subsetting option dropdown
Click Add starting table (you'll see a prompt if no starting tables are defined yet)
Search for and select a table from the list
The table will be marked with a "Starting table" badge
(Optional) Click on the table to add a Filter clause (SQL WHERE condition)
(Optional) Toggle Exclude for tables you want to omit from the subset
Click Save

Adding Filter Clauses

When you click on a starting table, you can define a SQL filter clause:

Example filter clauses:

city = 'london' - Only customers in London
OrderDate > '2024-01-01' - Orders from 2024 onwards
Status = 'Active' - Only active records

Filter clause syntax: Write your filter as you would in a SQL WHERE clause, with or without the WHERE keyword. For example: city = 'london' or WHERE city = 'london'.

Advanced example filter clauses

Example: "All orders for customers in London from 2024"

Starting table: Orders
Filter clause: OrderDate > '2024-01-01' AND CustomerID IN (SELECT CustomerID FROM Customers WHERE City = 'London')

What TDM does:
- Finds matching Orders rows
- Follows foreign keys to Customers
- Collects related OrderDetails
- Includes related Products, Shipping, etc.

Excluding Tables

You can exclude specific tables from your subset:

Find the table in the list on the Subsetting tab
Toggle the Exclude switch to the right
Click Save

Cascading exclusions: Tables that have foreign keys referencing an excluded table will also be excluded automatically.

Why exclude tables?

Tables with unsupported data types
Large tables that aren't needed for testing
Tables with permission issues
Audit or logging tables that aren't relevant

Next steps

Once configured, you're ready to run
→ Running a subsetting treatment