review updates

Author: eviltester

README.md

@@ -64,6 +64,12 @@ You can then create a new table, or amend the existing table or selected rows.
 
 The spec is a paragraph of text where each line is either a 'name' or a 'rule':
 
+### Schema Formatting
+
+- **Comments**: lines starting with `#` (optionally prefixed by whitespace) are treated as comments.
+- **Blank lines**: blank lines are allowed and ignored, so you can separate column groups for readability.
+- **Column definitions**: each column is defined as `name` followed by `rule` on the next logical content line.
+
 ```
 # optional comment
 

docs-src/docs/040-test-data/050-pairwise-testing.md

@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ Pairwise testing is most effective when:
 
 ## How to Generate Pairwise Data
 
+## Schema Formatting
+
+Schema text supports:
+
+- **Comments**: lines starting with `#` (after optional leading whitespace) are treated as comments.
+- **Blank lines**: allowed and ignored, useful for readability between column groups.
+- **Column definitions**: each column name must be followed by its generation rule on the next logical content line.
+
 ### In the Main App (app.html)
 
 1. **Open the Test Data section** by clicking the "Test Data" header

docs-src/docs/070-interfaces-and-deployment/030-rest-api.md

@@ -137,6 +137,14 @@ Use endpoints at `http://localhost:8082`.
 
 Both endpoints generate data from the same schema language and output formats. The key difference is request shape and content type, not generation capability.
 
+## Schema Formatting
+
+Schema text supports:
+
+- **Comments**: lines starting with `#` (after optional leading whitespace) are treated as comments.
+- **Blank lines**: allowed and ignored, useful for readability between column groups.
+- **Column definitions**: each column name must be followed by its generation rule on the next logical content line.
+
 ## API Examples
 
 Health check:

docs-src/docs/070-interfaces-and-deployment/050-cli-node-and-bun.md

@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ Parameter guide for the examples:
 - `--unsafe-faker-expressions`: opt-in to expression-style faker arguments (unsafe for untrusted input).
 - `--help`: show CLI usage and options.
 
+## Schema Formatting
+
+Schema text supports:
+
+- **Comments**: lines starting with `#` (after optional leading whitespace) are treated as comments.
+- **Blank lines**: allowed and ignored, useful for readability between column groups.
+- **Column definitions**: each column name must be followed by its generation rule on the next logical content line.
+
 ## Behavior Notes
 
 - `--testMode` always forces generation to a single row (`rowCount = 1`) and prints diagnostic/example output.

packages/core-ui/src/tests/generator/data-generator-page.test.js

@@ -81,18 +81,23 @@ class FakeTestDataGenerator {
   importSpec(text) {
     const lines = text.split('\n');
     this.rules = [];
+    this._errors = [];
     this._tokens = [];
     let pendingName = null;
     let pendingComments = [];
     for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i += 1) {
       const line = lines[i];
       const trimmed = String(line ?? '').trim();
       if (trimmed.length === 0) {
+        if (pendingName !== null) {
+          this._errors.push(`ERROR: Missing Rule Definition for ${pendingName}`);
+          return;
+        }
         this._tokens.push({ kind: 'blank', text: line });
         pendingComments.push(line);
         continue;
       }
-      if (/^\s*#/.test(line)) {
+      if (pendingName === null && /^\s*#/.test(line)) {
         this._tokens.push({ kind: 'comment', text: line });
         pendingComments.push(line);
         continue;
@@ -111,6 +116,13 @@ class FakeTestDataGenerator {
       pendingName = null;
       pendingComments = [];
     }
+    if (pendingName !== null) {
+      this._errors.push(`ERROR: Missing Rule Definition for ${pendingName}`);
+      return;
+    }
+    if (this.rules.length === 0) {
+      this._errors.push('ERROR: No Rules Defined');
+    }
   }
 
   compile() {
@@ -860,6 +872,34 @@ describe('DataGeneratorPage', () => {
     expect(document.getElementById('generatorSchemaText').value).toContain('# note');
   });
 
+  test('text mode accepts hash-prefixed rule text after a column name', () => {
+    const page = new DataGeneratorPage({
+      parentElement: document.getElementById('app'),
+      documentObj: document,
+      alertFn,
+      faker: { word: { noun: () => 'x' } },
+      RandExp: function RandExp() {},
+      TabulatorCtor: FakeTabulator,
+      GridExtensionClass: FakeGridExtension,
+      ExporterClass: FakeExporter,
+      DownloadClass: FakeDownload,
+      TestDataGeneratorClass: FakeTestDataGenerator,
+    });
+    page.init();
+
+    const toggle = document.getElementById('schemaModeToggleButton');
+    toggle.click();
+
+    const textArea = document.getElementById('generatorSchemaText');
+    textArea.value = 'Color\n#[A-F0-9]{6}';
+    toggle.click();
+
+    expect(alertFn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(page.schemaRows.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(page.schemaRows[0].name).toBe('Color');
+    expect(page.schemaRows[0].value).toBe('#[A-F0-9]{6}');
+  });
+
   test('adding schema rows does not discard existing parsed comments', () => {
     const page = new DataGeneratorPage({
       parentElement: document.getElementById('app'),

packages/core/js/data_generation/rulesParser.js

@@ -39,17 +39,12 @@ export class RulesParser {
         continue;
       }
 
-      if (/^\s*#/.test(line)) {
-        if (pendingName !== null) {
-          this.errors.push(`ERROR: Missing Rule Definition for ${pendingName}`);
-          return;
-        }
-        this.schemaTokens.push({ kind: 'comment', text: line, line: index + 1 });
-        pendingLeadingTextLines.push(line);
-        continue;
-      }
-
       if (pendingName === null) {
+        if (/^\s*#/.test(line)) {
+          this.schemaTokens.push({ kind: 'comment', text: line, line: index + 1 });
+          pendingLeadingTextLines.push(line);
+          continue;
+        }
         pendingName = trimmed;
         pendingNameLine = index + 1;
         continue;

packages/core/src/tests/core-api/generateFromTextSpec.test.js

@@ -24,6 +24,17 @@ test('generateFromTextSpec accepts comments and blank lines in spec', () => {
   expect(result.rows.length).toBe(2);
 });
 
+test('generateFromTextSpec accepts # prefixed rule content lines', () => {
+  const result = generateFromTextSpec({
+    textSpec: 'Color\n#[A-F0-9]{6}',
+    rowCount: 2,
+    outputFormat: 'json',
+  });
+  expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+  expect(result.headers).toEqual(['Color']);
+  expect(result.rows).toHaveLength(2);
+});
+
 test('generateFromTextSpec renders test framework output', () => {
   const result = generateFromTextSpec({ textSpec: 'Name\nBob', rowCount: 1, outputFormat: 'pytest' });
   expect(result.ok).toBe(true);

packages/core/src/tests/data_generation/unit/rulesParser.test.js

@@ -65,15 +65,26 @@ enum(active,inactive,pending)
     expect(parser.testDataRules.rules).toHaveLength(0);
   });
 
-  test('rejects comment lines between header and rule definition', () => {
+  test('rejects blank lines between header and rule definition', () => {
     const parser = new RulesParser(faker, RandExp);
-    parser.parseText('Priority\n# not allowed here\nenum(high,medium,low)');
+    parser.parseText('Priority\n\nenum(high,medium,low)');
 
     expect(parser.isValid()).toBe(false);
     expect(parser.errors).toContain('ERROR: Missing Rule Definition for Priority');
     expect(parser.testDataRules.rules).toHaveLength(0);
   });
 
+  test('accepts rule lines that begin with # when header is pending', () => {
+    const parser = new RulesParser(faker, RandExp);
+    parser.parseText('Color\n#[A-F0-9]{6}');
+
+    expect(parser.isValid()).toBe(true);
+    expect(parser.errors).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(parser.testDataRules.rules).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(parser.testDataRules.rules[0].name).toBe('Color');
+    expect(parser.testDataRules.rules[0].ruleSpec).toBe('#[A-F0-9]{6}');
+  });
+
   test('preserves comments and blank lines when rebuilding from parsed tokens', () => {
     const inputText = `# a comment that should be skipped
 Priority