Scenarioid

Scenarioid is an identifier used to uniquely identify a scenario within software systems, simulations, analyses, or datasets. It is typically an alphanumeric string that may be numeric, hyphenated, or structured as a universally unique identifier (UUID). The primary purpose is to enable unambiguous reference to a particular configuration, condition, or run across components, logs, and results.

In software testing and QA, a scenarioid labels a specific test scenario with predefined inputs and expected outcomes. In simulations and modeling, it identifies a scenario variant, such as environmental conditions or parameter sets. In business analytics and scenario planning, scenarioids tag different hypothetical futures used to compare outcomes. In gaming and interactive applications, it can denote a mission, level, or playthrough configuration. In data management, the scenarioid often serves as a foreign key to a scenarios table and as a key for results and metadata.

Format and generation vary: IDs can be simple integers, structured codes, or UUIDs. Global uniqueness is often important; therefore UUIDs or composite keys are common. Generating policies range from sequential counters to time-based components or cryptographic randomness. The scope of an ID can be global, project-specific, or dataset-specific.

Usage considerations include ensuring stable, persistent identifiers, avoiding exposure of sensitive structure, treating IDs as opaque, documenting versioning and lifecycle, and enforcing referential integrity. Common pitfalls involve collisions, lack of standardization, and inconsistent scoping.

Best practices recommend defining a scenarios catalog with a clear schema, using UUIDs for cross-system references, storing scenario definitions separately from results, and including timestamps and version numbers in metadata to support reproducibility and auditability.