BUG #1177: JDBC driver doesn't handle all dates correctly

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference:      1177
Logged by:          Jan Normann Nielsen

Email address:      spam@dubbekarl.dk

PostgreSQL version: 7.4

Operating system:   Linux (Insignificant)

Description:        JDBC driver doesn't handle all dates correctly

Details:

In AbstractJdbc1Statement.setDate(int parameterIndex, java.sql.Date x), the
date 'x' is converted to a string by using x.toString() before being sent as
a parameter to a SQL-query, i.e. an INSERT-statement. The JavaDocs specify
that the result of this this toString method is the same as

new java.text.SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd").format(x)

which, according to the documentation for SimpleDateFormat, will zero-pad
the year if it is less than four digits. This can happen if a very strange
date is chosen, which this case shows:

java.sql.Date x = new java.sql.Date(Long.MAX_VALUE);
System.out.println((int) x.toString().charAt(0));

This code will print '0'. Since x.toString() contains a null character, the
JDBC driver fails to send it as part of a query to the database by throwing:

java.sql.SQLException: ERROR:  Unterminated quoted string
        at
org.postgresql.core.QueryExecutor.executeV2(QueryExecutor.java:287)
        at org.postgresql.core.QueryExecutor.execute(QueryExecutor.java:104)
        at org.postgresql.core.QueryExecutor.execute(QueryExecutor.java:43)
org.postgresql.jdbc1.AbstractJdbc1Statement.execute(AbstractJdbc1Statement.
        at java:517)
org.postgresql.jdbc2.AbstractJdbc2Statement.execute(AbstractJdbc2Statement.
        at java:50)
org.postgresql.jdbc1.AbstractJdbc1Statement.executeUpdate(AbstractJdbc1Stat
        at ement.java:273)

if I e.g. try to perform an INSERT-statement.

The problem may also be present with other types than java.sql.Date, I
haven't checked the details.

The error is present in all versions 7.2-7.4 of the JDBC driver as far as I
can see.