Attempting to insert a value of 'now' into a datetime type

results in a bogus datetime value under AlphaLinux.  (Note that
the link to submit a port-specific bug on your website is broken)

-Test Case:
----------
testdb=> create table dttest (dt datetime);
testdb=> insert into dttest values ('now');

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Solution:
---------
The basic problem is the typedefs of AbsoluteTime and RelativeTime,
which are both 'int32'.  These types appear to be used synonymously
with the 'time_t' type, which on AlphaLinux is typedef'd as a 'long
int', which is 64-bits (not 32).  The solution included here fixes
the datetime type (it now passes the regression test), but does not
pass the absolute and relative time regression tests.  Presumably, a
more thorough investigation of how these types are used is warranted.
The included patch is from the v6.3.2 source, but can be applied to
the v6.4.2 source.  Please note that there is also a RedHat-specific
patch distributed with the PostgreSQL source package from RedHat
that was applied first.

Rich Edwards

1 files changed, 8 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/src/include/utils/nabstime.h b/src/include/utils/nabstime.h
index 58a262d3aab..fca6b628770 100644
--- a/src/include/utils/nabstime.h
+++ b/src/include/utils/nabstime.h
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
  *
  * Copyright (c) 1994, Regents of the University of California
  *
- * $Id: nabstime.h,v 1.18 1999/02/13 23:22:25 momjian Exp $
+ * $Id: nabstime.h,v 1.19 1999/03/14 16:44:02 momjian Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -23,8 +23,13 @@
  *
  * ----------------------------------------------------------------
  */
-typedef int32 AbsoluteTime;
-typedef int32 RelativeTime;
+/* The original typedefs are bogus - they assume that the system's 'time_t'
+ * type is of size 32-bits.  Under AlphaLinux, time_t is a long int, which
+ * is 64-bits.  Therefore, typedef these both as simply 'time_t', and let
+ * the OS define what the size really is. -- RME 3/5/99
+ */
+typedef time_t AbsoluteTime;
+typedef time_t RelativeTime;
 
 typedef struct
 {