take any instance variables already in context and make them available to dataset blocks - this is for nested describes I'm not sure about this one. It can be very frustrating to lose context of when the state of an iv is modified. add ability to clear the database (some tests wanted to guarantee a clear db) This is acheived with "dataset {}" clear database completely at beginning of session, only tables where data was created within a session?? clear all dumps on new run of tests be sure we are capturing a dataset if it has already be captured before during a run describe what happens when someone has a fixtures file - they get loaded after our datasets, thereby causing all the data in the table of the fixture file (like things.yml) to be deleted - the fixtures are then loaded look into truncating database instead individual table deletes allow configuration of dataset * permatable / global scope re-evaluation location of some tests that depend on TestCase in non-test/unit tests