<structname>pg_cast</> catalog, apply it to the expression before storing
into the destination column. The implementation function for such a cast
always takes an extra parameter of type <type>integer</type>, which receives
-the destination column's declared length (actually, its
-<structfield>atttypmod</> value; the interpretation of
-<structfield>atttypmod</> varies for different data types). The cast function
+the destination column's <structfield>atttypmod</> value (typically its
+declared length, although the interpretation of <structfield>atttypmod</>
+varies for different data types), and it may take a third <type>boolean</>
+parameter that says whether the cast is explicit or implicit. The cast
+function
is responsible for applying any length-dependent semantics such as size
checking or truncation.
</para>
<title><type>character</type> Storage Type Conversion</title>
<para>
-For a target column declared as <type>character(20)</type> the following statement
-ensures that the stored value is sized correctly:
+For a target column declared as <type>character(20)</type> the following
+statement shows that the stored value is sized correctly:
<screen>
CREATE TABLE vv (v character(20));
INSERT INTO vv SELECT 'abc' || 'def';
-SELECT v, length(v) FROM vv;
+SELECT v, octet_length(v) FROM vv;
- v | length
-----------------------+--------
- abcdef | 20
+ v | octet_length
+----------------------+--------------
+ abcdef | 20
(1 row)
</screen>
</para>
column type. (Since the conversion from <type>text</type> to
<type>bpchar</type> is binary-coercible, this conversion does
not insert any real function call.) Finally, the sizing function
-<literal>bpchar(bpchar, integer)</literal> is found in the system catalog
+<literal>bpchar(bpchar, integer, boolean)</> 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.