Django's TestCase.setUp not working as anticipated

Question

class Dummy(TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        thing = Thing.objects.create(name="Thing")

    def test_a(self):
       self.assertTrue(Thing.objects.get(pk=1))

    def test_b(self):
       self.assertTrue(Thing.objects.get(pk=1))

In this example I expect for setUp to be run prior to every test case, but it is only run prior to the first and then the changes are rolled back. This causes test_a to pass, but the equivalent test_b to fail. Is this the expected behavior? What do I need to do to make sure that the database is in the same state prior to every test case?

Answer 1

Figured it out. setUp is being run each time, it's just that it's incrementing the private key in the database. Therefore the Thing with pk=1 no longer exists. This works just fine:

class Dummy_YepThatsMe(TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        thing = Thing.objects.create(name="Thing")

    def test_a(self):
       self.assertTrue(Thing.objects.get(name="Thing"))

    def test_b(self):
       self.assertTrue(Thing.objects.get(name="Thing"))