Overview

The IDataSet interface represents a collection of tables — the primary abstraction dbUnit uses to manipulate tabular data, whether it comes from a file, a live database, or is built programmatically. Its core contract:

• getTableNames() / getTables() / getTable(String) — the tables in the dataset.
• iterator() / reverseIterator() — insertion-order (and reverse) access, used by e.g. DatabaseOperation.INSERT/DELETE_ALL to respect foreign-key ordering.
• isCaseSensitiveTableNames() — whether table name lookups are case-sensitive.

ITable represents one table: its ITableMetaData (columns), row count, and getValue(row, column) cell access.

Building Datasets Programmatically

DefaultDataSet is the basic mutable IDataSet implementation used to construct datasets in code rather than loading them from a file.

DataSetBuilder is a fluent builder on top of it for the common case, avoiding hand-built DefaultTable/Column wiring. Column data types default to UNKNOWN and are resolved at runtime by dbUnit.

Single-table example:

IDataSet dataSet = new DataSetBuilder()
    .table("FOO")
        .columns("ID", "NAME")
        .row(1, "Alice")
        .row(2, "Bob")
    .build();

Multi-table example:

IDataSet dataSet = new DataSetBuilder()
    .table("FOO")
        .columns("ID", "NAME")
        .row(1, "Alice")
    .table("BAR")
        .columns("X")
        .row(42)
    .build();

Dataset Formats and Decorators

Each of the following is a focused page — file-based formats first, then the programmatic/live sources, then the decorators that wrap any IDataSet/ ITable to add behavior:

For a live database as a dataset source (IDatabaseConnection.createDataSet()), see Connections & Configuration.