Re: BUG #3765: strange results for bit string hex notation cast to bit

>>> On Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at  3:47 PM, in message
<24B6EF3D-B0BC-44EB-ADD1-257AE9A51FD4@otii.com>, Cade Cairns <cadec@otii.co=
m>
wrote:=20
> On 20-Nov-07, at 2:42 PM, Heikki Linnakangas wrote:
>>
>> http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/interactive/datatype-bit.html
>>
>> "Note:  If one explicitly casts a bit-string value to bit(n), it=20=20
>> will be truncated or zero-padded on the right to be exactly n bits,=20=
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>> without raising an error. Similarly, if one explicitly casts a bit-=20
>> string value to bit varying(n), it will be truncated on the right if=20=
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>> it is more than n bits."
>
> Can anyone explain why this is the case?
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That's the correct result, as I read the CAST specification in the
ANSI standard; although I think this should generate a warning.
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            d) If SD is fixed-length bit string or variable-length bit
              string, then let LSV be the value of BIT_LENGTH(SV) and let
              B be the BIT_LENGTH of the character with the smallest BIT_
              LENGTH in the form-of-use of TD. Let PAD be the value of the
              remainder of the division LSV/B. Let NC be a character whose
              bits all have the value 0.

              If PAD is not 0, then append (B - PAD) 0-valued bits to
              the least significant end of SV; a completion condition is
              raised: warning-implicit zero-bit padding.

              Let SVC be the possibly padded value of SV expressed as a
              character string without regard to valid character encodings
              and let LTDS be a character string of LTD characters of value
              NC characters in the form-of-use of TD.

              TV is the result of

                 SUBSTRING (SVC | LTDS FROM 1 FOR LTD)

              Case:

              i) If the length of TV is less than the length of SVC, then a
                 completion condition is raised: warning-string data, right
                 truncation.

             ii) If the length of TV is greater than the length of SVC, then
                 a completion condition is raised: warning-implicit zero-bit
                 padding.
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-Kevin
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