A: 

A quick look at the DDSteps site and it looks to be using DbUnit under the hood. Do you mind if I ask what database server you are using? I had to use the OracleDataTypeFactory to get DbUnit to accept date times.

mlk
had to restart my workstation, i'll definately give that a look and get back to you
DefyGravity
Yes, it appears the dbConnection was using the dbunit DefaultDataTypeFactory. Yes, I should probably use the OracleDataTypeFactory.
DefyGravity
before I load data, I followed DBunit's steps to use their OracleDataTypeFactory.before the test loads any data, but after it gets a db connection. No change on insertion/update SQL created.
DefyGravity