PostgreSQL 7.4beta4 Documentation
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# 10.4. Value Storage

Values to be inserted into a table are converted to the destination column's data type according to the following steps.

Value Storage Type Conversion

1. Check for an exact match with the target.

2. Otherwise, try to convert the expression to the target type. This will succeed if there is a registered cast between the two types. If the expression is an unknown-type literal, the contents of the literal string will be fed to the input conversion routine for the target type.

3. If the target is a fixed-length type (e.g., `char` or `varchar` declared with a length) then try to find a sizing function for the target type. A sizing function is a function of the same name as the type, taking two arguments of which the first is that type and the second is of type `integer`, and returning the same type. If one is found, it is applied, passing the column's declared length as the second parameter.

Example 10-6. `character` Storage Type Conversion

For a target column declared as `character(20)` the following statement ensures that the stored value is sized correctly:

    CREATE TABLE vv (v character(20));
    INSERT INTO vv SELECT 'abc' || 'def';
    SELECT v, length(v) FROM vv;

              v           | length
    ----------------------+--------
     abcdef               |     20
    (1 row)

What has really happened here is that the two unknown literals are resolved to `text` by default, allowing the || operator to be resolved as `text` concatenation. Then the `text` result of the operator is converted to `bpchar` ("blank-padded char", the internal name of the `character` data type) to match the target column type. (Since the types `text` and `bpchar` are binary-compatible, this conversion does not insert any real function call.) Finally, the sizing function bpchar(bpchar, integer) is found in the system catalog and applied to the operator's result and the stored column length. This type-specific function performs the required length check and addition of padding spaces.

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