diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index aeca2d6b..3b32ddeb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ eggs/
 htmlcov/
 out/
 parts/
+tmp/
diff --git a/DEVELOP.rst b/DEVELOP.rst
index 80589a26..31903943 100644
--- a/DEVELOP.rst
+++ b/DEVELOP.rst
@@ -36,7 +36,12 @@ Ignore specific test directories::
 
     ./bin/test -vvvv --ignore_dir=testing
 
-Invoke all tests without integration tests (~5 seconds runtime)::
+The ``LayerTest`` test cases have quite some overhead. Omitting them will save
+a few cycles (~90 seconds runtime)::
+
+    ./bin/test -t '!LayerTest'
+
+Invoke all tests without integration tests (~3 seconds runtime)::
 
     ./bin/test \
         -t '!LayerTest' -t '!docs/by-example' \
diff --git a/docs/by-example/connection.rst b/docs/by-example/connection.rst
index 22230436..81f5a756 100644
--- a/docs/by-example/connection.rst
+++ b/docs/by-example/connection.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ The Connection object
 This documentation section outlines different attributes, methods, and
 behaviors of the ``crate.client.connection.Connection`` object.
 
+To improve focus and reduce boilerplate, the example code uses both
+``ClientMocked``. It is required for demonstration purposes, so the example
+does not need a real database connection.
+
 .. rubric:: Table of Contents
 
 .. contents::
@@ -13,13 +17,13 @@ behaviors of the ``crate.client.connection.Connection`` object.
 
 connect()
 =========
-::
 
-    >>> from crate.client import connect
+This section sets up a connection object, and inspects some of its attributes.
 
-We create a new connection object::
+    >>> from crate.client import connect
+    >>> from crate.client.test_util import ClientMocked
 
-    >>> connection = connect(client=connection_client_mocked)
+    >>> connection = connect(client=ClientMocked())
     >>> connection.lowest_server_version.version
     (2, 0, 0)
 
diff --git a/docs/by-example/cursor.rst b/docs/by-example/cursor.rst
index 17605131..c7a46928 100644
--- a/docs/by-example/cursor.rst
+++ b/docs/by-example/cursor.rst
@@ -5,8 +5,9 @@ The Cursor object
 This documentation section outlines different attributes, methods, and
 behaviors of the ``crate.client.cursor.Cursor`` object.
 
-To improve focus and reduce boilerplate, it uses a ``set_next_response`` method
-only intended for testing.
+To improve focus and reduce boilerplate, the example code uses both
+``ClientMocked`` and ``set_next_response``. They are required for demonstration
+purposes, so the example does not need a real database connection.
 
 .. rubric:: Table of Contents
 
@@ -14,24 +15,21 @@ only intended for testing.
    :local:
 
 
-Setup
-=====
+Introduction
+============
 
 This section sets up a cursor object, inspects some of its attributes, and sets
 up the response for subsequent cursor operations.
 
-::
-
     >>> from crate.client import connect
     >>> from crate.client.cursor import Cursor
+    >>> from crate.client.test_util import ClientMocked
 
-    >>> connection = connect(client=connection_client_mocked)
+    >>> connection = connect(client=ClientMocked())
     >>> cursor = connection.cursor()
 
 The rowcount and duration attribute is ``-1``, in case no ``execute()`` has
-been performed on the cursor.
-
-::
+been performed on the cursor yet.
 
     >>> cursor.rowcount
     -1
@@ -39,8 +37,8 @@ been performed on the cursor.
     >>> cursor.duration
     -1
 
-Hardcode the next response of the mocked connection client, so we won't need a sql statement
-to execute::
+Define the response of the mocked connection client. It will be returned on
+request without needing to execute an SQL statement.
 
     >>> connection.client.set_next_response({
     ...     "rows":[ [ "North West Ripple", 1 ], [ "Arkintoofle Minor", 3 ], [ "Alpha Centauri", 3 ] ],
@@ -179,8 +177,6 @@ Iterating over a new cursor without results will immediately raise a Programming
 description
 ===========
 
-::
-
     >>> cursor.description
     (('name', None, None, None, None, None, None), ('position', None, None, None, None, None, None))
 
@@ -324,8 +320,6 @@ The cursor object can optionally convert database types to native Python data
 types. Currently, this is implemented for the CrateDB data types ``IP`` and
 ``TIMESTAMP`` on behalf of the ``DefaultTypeConverter``.
 
-::
-
     >>> cursor = connection.cursor(converter=Cursor.get_default_converter())
 
     >>> connection.client.set_next_response({
@@ -351,7 +345,7 @@ inspect the ``DataType`` enum, or the documentation about the list of available
 `CrateDB data type identifiers for the HTTP interface`_.
 
 To create a simple converter for converging CrateDB's ``BIT`` type to Python's
-``int`` type::
+``int`` type.
 
     >>> from crate.client.converter import Converter, DataType
 
@@ -360,7 +354,7 @@ To create a simple converter for converging CrateDB's ``BIT`` type to Python's
     >>> cursor = connection.cursor(converter=converter)
 
 Proof that the converter works correctly, ``B\'0110\'`` should be converted to
-``6``. CrateDB's ``BIT`` data type has the numeric identifier ``25``::
+``6``. CrateDB's ``BIT`` data type has the numeric identifier ``25``.
 
     >>> connection.client.set_next_response({
     ...     "col_types": [25],
@@ -386,8 +380,6 @@ desired time zone.
 For your reference, in the following examples, epoch 1658167836758 is
 ``Mon, 18 Jul 2022 18:10:36 GMT``.
 
-::
-
     >>> import datetime
     >>> tz_mst = datetime.timezone(datetime.timedelta(hours=7), name="MST")
     >>> cursor = connection.cursor(time_zone=tz_mst)
@@ -414,7 +406,7 @@ The available options are:
 - ``zoneinfo.ZoneInfo("Australia/Sydney")``
 - ``+0530`` (UTC offset in string format)
 
-Let's exercise all of them::
+Let's exercise all of them:
 
     >>> cursor.time_zone = datetime.timezone.utc
     >>> cursor.execute('')
diff --git a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/cru.rst b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/cru.rst
index 16231e11..285bb74e 100644
--- a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/cru.rst
+++ b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/cru.rst
@@ -13,13 +13,42 @@ and updating complex data types with nested Python dictionaries.
    :local:
 
 
-Setup
-=====
+Introduction
+============
+
+Import the relevant symbols:
+
+    >>> import sqlalchemy as sa
+    >>> from datetime import datetime
+    >>> from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+    >>> from sqlalchemy.sql import text
+    >>> from crate.client.sqlalchemy.types import ObjectArray
 
 Establish a connection to the database:
 
+    >>> engine = sa.create_engine(f"crate://{crate_host}")
     >>> connection = engine.connect()
 
+Define the ORM schema for the ``Location`` entity:
+
+    >>> Base = declarative_base(bind=engine)
+
+    >>> class Location(Base):
+    ...     __tablename__ = 'locations'
+    ...     name = sa.Column(sa.String, primary_key=True)
+    ...     kind = sa.Column(sa.String)
+    ...     date = sa.Column(sa.Date, default=lambda: datetime.utcnow().date())
+    ...     datetime_tz = sa.Column(sa.DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow)
+    ...     datetime_notz = sa.Column(sa.DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow)
+    ...     nullable_datetime = sa.Column(sa.DateTime)
+    ...     nullable_date = sa.Column(sa.Date)
+    ...     flag = sa.Column(sa.Boolean)
+    ...     details = sa.Column(ObjectArray)
+
+Create a session with SQLAlchemy:
+
+    >>> session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)()
 
 Retrieve
 ========
@@ -247,8 +276,7 @@ Refresh "characters" table:
     >>> _ = connection.execute("REFRESH TABLE characters")
 
     >>> session.refresh(char)
-    >>> import pprint
-    >>> pprint.pprint(char.details)
+    >>> pprint(char.details)
     {'name': {'first': 'Trillian', 'last': 'Dent'}, 'size': 45}
 
 .. Hidden: close connection
diff --git a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/getting-started.rst b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/getting-started.rst
index 39bb986f..52b3f4f9 100644
--- a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/getting-started.rst
+++ b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/getting-started.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,28 @@ as well as the use of complex and geospatial data types.
    :local:
 
 
+Introduction
+============
+
+Import the relevant symbols:
+
+    >>> import sqlalchemy as sa
+    >>> from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+    >>> from sqlalchemy.sql import text
+
+Establish a connection to the database:
+
+    >>> engine = sa.create_engine(f"crate://{crate_host}")
+    >>> connection = engine.connect()
+
+    >>> Base = declarative_base(bind=engine)
+
+Create a session with SQLAlchemy:
+
+    >>> session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)()
+
+
 Connection String
 =================
 
@@ -116,9 +138,9 @@ defined in the schema:
 
 After ``INSERT`` statements are sent to the database the newly inserted rows
 aren't immediately available for search because the index is only updated
-periodically:
+periodically. In order to synchronize that, refresh the table:
 
-    >>> refresh("characters")
+    >>> _ = connection.execute(text("REFRESH TABLE characters"))
 
 A regular select query will then fetch the whole documents:
 
@@ -180,7 +202,7 @@ This will generate an UPDATE statement roughly like this:
 
     "UPDATE characters set more_details = ? ...", ([{'foo': 1, 'bar': 10}, {'foo': 2}, {'foo': 3}],)
 
-    >>> refresh("characters")
+    >>> _ = connection.execute(text("REFRESH TABLE characters"))
 
 To do queries against fields of ``ObjectArray``s you have to use the
 ``.any(value, operator=operators.eq)`` method on a subscript, because accessing
@@ -241,10 +263,10 @@ session:
     >>> tokyo = City(coordinate=point, area=area, name='Tokyo')
     >>> session.add(tokyo)
     >>> session.commit()
+    >>> _ = connection.execute(text("REFRESH TABLE cities"))
 
 When retrieved, they are retrieved as the corresponding geojson objects:
 
-    >>> refresh("cities")
     >>> query = session.query(City.name, City.coordinate, City.area)
     >>> query.all()
      [('Tokyo', (139.75999999791384, 35.67999996710569), {"coordinates": [[[139.806, 35.515], [139.919, 35.703], [139.768, 35.817], [139.575, 35.76], [139.584, 35.619], [139.806, 35.515]]], "type": "Polygon"})]
@@ -425,7 +447,7 @@ Let's add a task to the ``Todo`` table:
     >>> task = Todos(content='Write Tests', status='done')
     >>> session.add(task)
     >>> session.commit()
-    >>> refresh("todos")
+    >>> _ = connection.execute(text("REFRESH TABLE todos"))
 
 Using ``insert().from_select()`` to archive the task in ``ArchivedTasks``
 table:
@@ -434,7 +456,7 @@ table:
     >>> ins = insert(ArchivedTasks).from_select(['id','content'], sel)
     >>> result = session.execute(ins)
     >>> session.commit()
-    >>> refresh("archived_tasks")
+    >>> _ = connection.execute(text("REFRESH TABLE archived_tasks"))
 
 This will result in the following query:
 
diff --git a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/inspection-reflection.rst b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/inspection-reflection.rst
index e935fc7b..92611325 100644
--- a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/inspection-reflection.rst
+++ b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/inspection-reflection.rst
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ A low level interface which provides a backend-agnostic system of loading lists
 of schema, table, column, and constraint descriptions from a given database is
 available. This is known as the `SQLAlchemy inspector`_.
 
+    >>> import sqlalchemy as sa
+
+    >>> engine = sa.create_engine(f"crate://{crate_host}")
     >>> inspector = sa.inspect(engine)
 
 
diff --git a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/internals.rst b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/internals.rst
index 94486c45..9d03f12c 100644
--- a/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/internals.rst
+++ b/docs/by-example/sqlalchemy/internals.rst
@@ -9,24 +9,34 @@ focuses on showing specific internals.
 CrateDialect
 ============
 
-The initialize method sets the default schema name and version info:
+Import the relevant symbols:
 
+    >>> import sqlalchemy as sa
+    >>> from crate.client.sqlalchemy.dialect import CrateDialect
+
+Establish a connection to the database:
+
+    >>> engine = sa.create_engine(f"crate://{crate_host}")
     >>> connection = engine.connect()
+
+After initializing the dialect instance with a connection instance,
+
     >>> dialect = CrateDialect()
     >>> dialect.initialize(connection)
 
+the database server version and default schema name can be inquired.
 
     >>> dialect.server_version_info >= (1, 0, 0)
     True
 
-Check if table exists:
+Check if schema exists:
 
-    >>> dialect.has_table(connection, 'locations')
+    >>> dialect.has_schema(connection, 'doc')
     True
 
-Check if schema exists:
+Check if table exists:
 
-    >>> dialect.has_schema(connection, 'doc')
+    >>> dialect.has_table(connection, 'locations')
     True
 
 .. Hidden: close connection
diff --git a/docs/sqlalchemy.rst b/docs/sqlalchemy.rst
index a750f9b5..491e14ab 100644
--- a/docs/sqlalchemy.rst
+++ b/docs/sqlalchemy.rst
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ Table definition
 ----------------
 
 Here is an example SQLAlchemy table definition using the `declarative
-system`_::
+system`_:
 
     >>> from sqlalchemy.ext import declarative
     >>> from crate.client.sqlalchemy import types
@@ -402,7 +402,8 @@ default, which is a short time for me and you, but a long time for your code).
 
 You can request a `table refresh`_ to update the index manually::
 
-    >>> refresh("characters")
+    >>> connection = engine.connect()
+    >>> _ = connection.execute(text("REFRESH TABLE characters"))
 
 .. NOTE::
 
diff --git a/src/crate/client/tests.py b/src/crate/client/tests.py
index 71cf6066..638e54f8 100644
--- a/src/crate/client/tests.py
+++ b/src/crate/client/tests.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import unittest
 import doctest
 from pprint import pprint
-from datetime import datetime
 from http.server import HTTPServer, BaseHTTPRequestHandler
 import ssl
 import time
@@ -41,8 +40,6 @@
     crate_host, crate_path, crate_port, \
     crate_transport_port, docs_path, localhost
 from crate.client import connect
-from crate.client.sqlalchemy.dialect import CrateDialect
-from crate.client.test_util import ClientMocked
 
 from .test_cursor import CursorTest
 from .test_connection import ConnectionTest
@@ -57,7 +54,6 @@
     TestDefaultSchemaHeader,
 )
 from .sqlalchemy.tests import test_suite as sqlalchemy_test_suite
-from .sqlalchemy.types import ObjectArray
 
 log = logging.getLogger('crate.testing.layer')
 ch = logging.StreamHandler()
@@ -71,10 +67,6 @@ def cprint(s):
     print(s)
 
 
-def setUpMocked(test):
-    test.globs['connection_client_mocked'] = ClientMocked()
-
-
 settings = {
     'udc.enabled': 'false',
     'lang.js.enabled': 'true',
@@ -115,17 +107,10 @@ def ensure_cratedb_layer():
     return crate_layer
 
 
-def refresh(table):
-    with connect(crate_host) as conn:
-        cursor = conn.cursor()
-        cursor.execute("refresh table %s" % table)
-
-
 def setUpWithCrateLayer(test):
     test.globs['crate_host'] = crate_host
     test.globs['pprint'] = pprint
     test.globs['print'] = cprint
-    test.globs["refresh"] = refresh
 
     with connect(crate_host) as conn:
         cursor = conn.cursor()
@@ -154,54 +139,33 @@ def setUpWithCrateLayer(test):
 def setUpCrateLayerAndSqlAlchemy(test):
     setUpWithCrateLayer(test)
     import sqlalchemy as sa
-    from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
-    from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 
-    with connect(crate_host) as conn:
-        cursor = conn.cursor()
-        cursor.execute("""create table characters (
-          id string primary key,
-          name string,
-          quote string,
-          details object,
-          more_details array(object),
-          INDEX name_ft using fulltext(name) with (analyzer = 'english'),
-          INDEX quote_ft using fulltext(quote) with (analyzer = 'english')
-          )""")
-        cursor.execute("CREATE VIEW characters_view AS SELECT * FROM characters")
+    ddl_statements = [
+        """
+        CREATE TABLE characters (
+            id STRING PRIMARY KEY,
+            name STRING,
+            quote STRING,
+            details OBJECT,
+            more_details ARRAY(OBJECT),
+            INDEX name_ft USING fulltext(name) WITH (analyzer = 'english'),
+            INDEX quote_ft USING fulltext(quote) WITH (analyzer = 'english')
+            )""",
+        """
+        CREATE VIEW characters_view
+            AS SELECT * FROM characters
+        """,
+        """
+        CREATE TABLE cities (
+            name STRING PRIMARY KEY,
+            coordinate GEO_POINT,
+            area GEO_SHAPE
+        )"""
+    ]
 
-    with connect(crate_host) as conn:
-        cursor = conn.cursor()
-        cursor.execute("""create table cities (
-          name string primary key,
-          coordinate geo_point,
-          area geo_shape
-    ) """)
-
-    engine = sa.create_engine('crate://{0}'.format(crate_host))
-    Base = declarative_base()
-
-    class Location(Base):
-        __tablename__ = 'locations'
-        name = sa.Column(sa.String, primary_key=True)
-        kind = sa.Column(sa.String)
-        date = sa.Column(sa.Date, default=lambda: datetime.utcnow().date())
-        datetime_tz = sa.Column(sa.DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow)
-        datetime_notz = sa.Column(sa.DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow)
-        nullable_datetime = sa.Column(sa.DateTime)
-        nullable_date = sa.Column(sa.Date)
-        flag = sa.Column(sa.Boolean)
-        details = sa.Column(ObjectArray)
-
-    Session = sessionmaker(engine)
-    session = Session()
-    test.globs['sa'] = sa
-    test.globs['engine'] = engine
-    test.globs['Location'] = Location
-    test.globs['Base'] = Base
-    test.globs['session'] = session
-    test.globs['Session'] = Session
-    test.globs['CrateDialect'] = CrateDialect
+    engine = sa.create_engine(f"crate://{crate_host}")
+    for ddl_statement in ddl_statements:
+        engine.execute(sa.text(ddl_statement))
 
 
 class HttpsTestServerLayer:
@@ -350,7 +314,6 @@ def test_suite():
         'docs/by-example/connection.rst',
         'docs/by-example/cursor.rst',
         module_relative=False,
-        setUp=setUpMocked,
         optionflags=flags,
         encoding='utf-8'
     )
diff --git a/src/crate/testing/tests.py b/src/crate/testing/tests.py
index b647bc13..186b6dc0 100644
--- a/src/crate/testing/tests.py
+++ b/src/crate/testing/tests.py
@@ -20,18 +20,12 @@
 # with Crate these terms will supersede the license and you may use the
 # software solely pursuant to the terms of the relevant commercial agreement.
 
-import os
 import unittest
-import tempfile
 from .test_layer import LayerUtilsTest, LayerTest
-from .settings import project_root, crate_path
 
 
 def setUp(test):
-    test.globs['project_root'] = project_root
-    test.globs['crate_path'] = crate_path
-    test.globs['tempfile'] = tempfile
-    test.globs['os'] = os
+    pass
 
 
 def test_suite():