Data Management in BDR

Test data is the “fuel” for automation. Low-quality data leads to false positives and flakiness.

1. Isolation by Contract

Every test must own its data.

• No Shared Accounts: If two tests use the same user, they will inevitably collide (Race Condition).
• On-the-fly Creation: Create entities (users, orders) directly in the test code (via API in Layer 1).

2. Factory Pattern

Instead of storing huge JSON files with data, BDR recommends using the Data Factories pattern.

• You call a method UserFactory.createStandardUser().
• The factory returns an object with default data, which can be overridden only for a specific test.

3. Staging and Environments

BDR separates Static Data (which cannot be created, e.g., list of cities) and Dynamic Data (transactions).

• Static data is stored in Layer 0 constants.
• Dynamic data is cleaned up after each test (Cleanup mechanism).