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 <chapter id="datatype">
  <title id="datatype-title">Data Types</title>

  <abstract>
   <para>
    Describes the built-in data types available in 
    <productname>Postgres</productname>.
   </para>
  </abstract>

  <para>
   <productname>Postgres</productname> has a rich set of native data 
   types available to users.
   Users may add new types to <productname>Postgres</productname> using the
   <command>CREATE TYPE</command> command.
  </para>

  <para>
   In the context of data types, the following sections will discuss 
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> standards compliance, porting issues, and usage.

   Some <productname>Postgres</productname> types correspond directly to 
   <acronym>SQL92</acronym>-compatible types. In other
   cases, data types defined by <acronym>SQL92</acronym> syntax are mapped directly
   into native <productname>Postgres</productname> types. 

   Many of the built-in types have obvious external formats. However, several
   types are either unique to <productname>Postgres</productname>, 
   such as open and closed paths, or have
   several possibilities for formats, such as the date and time types.
  </para>

  <para>
   <table tocentry="1">
    <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Data Types</title>
    <titleabbrev>Data Types</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="3">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry><productname>Postgres</productname> Type</entry>
       <entry><acronym>SQL92</acronym> or <acronym>SQL99</acronym> Type</entry>
       <entry>Description</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>bool</entry>
       <entry>boolean</entry>
       <entry>logical boolean (true/false)</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>box</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>rectangular box in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>char(n)</entry>
       <entry>character(n)</entry>
       <entry>fixed-length character string</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>cidr</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>IP version 4 network or host address</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>circle</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>circle in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>date</entry>
       <entry>date</entry>
       <entry>calendar date without time of day</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>decimal</entry>
       <entry>decimal(p,s)</entry>
       <entry>exact numeric with selectable precision</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>float4</entry>
       <entry>float(<replaceable>p</replaceable>), <replaceable>p</replaceable> < 7</entry>
       <entry>floating-point number with precision <replaceable>p</replaceable></entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>float8</entry>
       <entry>float(<replaceable>p</replaceable>), 7 <= <replaceable>p</replaceable> < 16</entry>
       <entry>floating-point number with precision <replaceable>p</replaceable></entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>inet</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>IP version 4 network or host address</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>int2</entry>
       <entry>smallint</entry>
       <entry>signed two-byte integer</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>int4</entry>
       <entry>int, integer</entry>
       <entry>signed 4-byte integer</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>int8</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>signed 8-byte integer</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>interval</entry>
       <entry>interval</entry>
       <entry>general-use time span</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>line</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>infinite line in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>lseg</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>line segment in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>money</entry>
       <entry>decimal(9,2)</entry>
       <entry>US-style currency</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>numeric</entry>
       <entry>numeric(p,s)</entry>
       <entry>exact numeric with selectable precision</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>path</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>open and closed geometric path in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>point</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>geometric point in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>polygon</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>closed geometric path in 2D plane</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>serial</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>unique id for indexing and cross-reference</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>text</entry>
       <entry></entry>
       <entry>variable-length character string</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>time</entry>
       <entry>time [ without time zone ]</entry>
       <entry>time of day</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>timetz</entry>
       <entry>time with time zone</entry>
       <entry>time of day, including time zone</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>timestamp</entry>
       <entry>timestamp [ with time zone ]</entry>
       <entry>date/time</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>varchar(n)</entry>
       <entry>character varying(n)</entry>
       <entry>variable-length character string</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>
  </para>

  <para>
   <note>
    <para>
     The <type>cidr</type> and <type>inet</type> types are designed to handle any IP type 
     but only ipv4 is handled in the current implementation.  
     Everything here that talks about ipv4 will apply to ipv6 in a
     future release.
    </para>
   </note>
  </para>

  <para>
   <table tocentry="1">
    <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Function Constants</title>
    <titleabbrev>Constants</titleabbrev>
    <tgroup cols="3">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry><productname>Postgres</productname> Function</entry>
       <entry><acronym>SQL92</acronym> Constant</entry>
       <entry>Description</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>date('now')</entry>
       <entry>current_date</entry>
       <entry>date of current transaction</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>time('now')</entry>
       <entry>current_time</entry>
       <entry>time of current transaction</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
       <entry>timestamp('now')</entry>
       <entry>current_timestamp</entry>
       <entry>date and time of current transaction</entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </table>
  </para>

  <para>
   <productname>Postgres</productname> has features at the forefront of 
   <acronym>ORDBMS</acronym> development. In addition to
   <acronym>SQL99</acronym> conformance, substantial portions 
   of <acronym>SQL92</acronym> are also supported.
   Although we strive for <acronym>SQL92</acronym> compliance, 
   there are some aspects of the standard
   which are ill considered and which should not live through subsequent standards.
   <productname>Postgres</productname> will not make great efforts to 
   conform to these features; however, these tend to apply in little-used 
   or obsure cases, and a typical user is not likely to run into them.
  </para>

  <para>
   Most of the input and output functions corresponding to the
   base types (e.g., integers and floating point numbers) do some
   error-checking.
   Some of the operators and functions (e.g.,
   addition and multiplication) do not perform run-time error-checking in the
   interests of improving execution speed.
   On some systems, for example, the numeric operators for some data types may
   silently underflow or overflow.
  </para>

  <para>
   Some of the input and output functions are not invertible.  That is,
   the result of an output function may lose precision when compared to
   the original input.

   <note>
    <para>
     Floating point numbers are allowed to retain
     most of the intrinsic precision of the type (typically 15 digits for doubles, 
     6 digits for 4-byte floats). 
     Other types with underlying floating point fields (e.g. geometric
     types) carry similar precision.
    </para>
   </note>
  </para>

  <sect1 id="numeric-types">
   <title>Numeric Types</title>

   <para>
    Numeric types consist of two-, four-, and eight-byte integers,
    four- and eight-byte
    floating point numbers and fixed-precision decimals.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Numeric Types</title>
     <titleabbrev>Numerics</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="4">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Numeric Type</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
	<entry>Description</entry>
	<entry>Range</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
	<entry>decimal</entry>
	<entry>variable</entry>
	<entry>User-specified precision</entry>
	<entry>no limit</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>float4</entry>
	<entry>4 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Variable-precision</entry>
	<entry>6 decimal places</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>float8</entry>
	<entry>8 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Variable-precision</entry>
	<entry>15 decimal places</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>int2</entry>
	<entry>2 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Fixed-precision</entry>
	<entry>-32768 to +32767</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>int4</entry>
	<entry>4 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Usual choice for fixed-precision</entry>
	<entry>-2147483648 to +2147483647</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>int8</entry>
	<entry>8 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Very large range fixed-precision</entry>
	<entry>~18 decimal places</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>numeric</entry>
	<entry>variable</entry>
	<entry>User-specified precision</entry>
	<entry>no limit</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>serial</entry>
	<entry>4 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Identifer or cross-reference</entry>
	<entry>0 to +2147483647</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>

   <para>
    The numeric types have a full set of corresponding arithmetic operators and
    functions. Refer to <xref linkend="numerical-operators"> 
    and <xref linkend="math-functions"> for more information.
   </para>

   <para>
    The <type>int8</type> type may not be available on all platforms since
    it relies on compiler support for eight-byte integers.
   </para>

   <sect2>
    <title>The Serial Type</title>

    <para>
     The <type>serial</type> type is a special-case type constructed by
     <productname>Postgres</productname> from other existing components.
     It is typically used to create unique identifiers for table entries.
     In the current implementation, specifying

     <programlisting>
CREATE TABLE <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable> (<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable> SERIAL);
     </programlisting>

     is equivalent to specifying:

     <programlisting>
CREATE SEQUENCE <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>_<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable>_seq;
CREATE TABLE <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>
    (<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable> INT4 DEFAULT nextval('<replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>_<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable>_seq');
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>_<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable>_key on <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable> (<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable>);
     </programlisting>

     <caution>
      <para>
       The implicit sequence created for the <type>serial</type> type will
       <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically removed when the
       table is dropped.
      </para>
     </caution>

     Implicit sequences supporting the <type>serial</type> are
     not automatically dropped when a table containing a serial type
     is dropped. So, the following commands executed in order will likely fail:

     <programlisting>
CREATE TABLE <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable> (<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable> SERIAL);
DROP TABLE <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable>;
CREATE TABLE <replaceable class="parameter">tablename</replaceable> (<replaceable class="parameter">colname</replaceable> SERIAL);
     </programlisting>

     The sequence will remain in the database until explicitly dropped using
     <command>DROP SEQUENCE</command>.
    </para>
   </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="monetary-types">
   <title>Monetary Type</title>

   <note>
    <title>Obsolete Type</title>
    <para>
     The <type>money</type> is now deprecated. Use <type>numeric</type>
     or <type>decimal</type> instead. The money type may become a
     locale-aware layer over the numeric type in a future release.
    </para>
   </note>

   <para>
    The <type>money</type> type supports US-style currency with 
    fixed decimal point representation.
    If <productname>Postgres</productname> is compiled with USE_LOCALE 
    then the money type should use the monetary conventions defined for
    <citetitle>locale(7)</citetitle>.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Monetary Types</title>
     <titleabbrev>Money</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="4">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Monetary Type</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
	<entry>Description</entry>
	<entry>Range</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
	<entry>money</entry>
	<entry>4 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Fixed-precision</entry>
	<entry>-21474836.48 to +21474836.47</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>

   <para>
    <type>numeric</type>
    will replace the money type, and should be preferred.
   </para>

  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="character-types">
   <title>Character Types</title>

   <para>
    <acronym>SQL92</acronym> defines two primary character types:
    <type>char</type> and <type>varchar</type>. 
    <productname>Postgres</productname> supports these types, in
    addition to the more general <type>text</type> type, 
    which unlike <type>varchar</type>
    does not require an explicit declared upper
    limit on the size of the field.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Character Types</title>
     <titleabbrev>Characters</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="4">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Character Type</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
	<entry>Recommendation</entry>
	<entry>Description</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
	<entry>"char"</entry>
	<entry>1 byte</entry>
	<entry><acronym>SQL92</acronym>-compatible</entry>
	<entry>Single character</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>char(n)</entry>
	<entry>(4+n) bytes</entry>
	<entry><acronym>SQL92</acronym>-compatible</entry>
	<entry>Fixed-length blank padded</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>text</entry>
	<entry>(4+x) bytes</entry>
	<entry>Best choice</entry>
	<entry>Variable-length</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>varchar(n)</entry>
	<entry>(4+x) bytes</entry>
	<entry><acronym>SQL92</acronym>-compatible</entry>
	<entry>Variable-length with limit</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>

   <para>
    There is one other fixed-length character type in <productname>Postgres</productname>. 
    The <type>name</type> type
    only has one purpose and that is for storage of internal catalog
    names.
    It is not intended for use by the general user.
    Its length is currently defined as 32 bytes (31 characters plus terminator) 
    but should be reference using NAMEDATALEN.
    The length is set at compile time (and is therefore adjustable for
    special uses); the default maximum length may change in a future release.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Specialty Character Type</title>
     <titleabbrev>Specialty Characters</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="3">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Character Type</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
	<entry>Description</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
	<entry>name</entry>
	<entry>32 bytes</entry>
	<entry>Thirty-one character internal type</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>

  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="datetime-types">
   <title>Date/Time Types</title>

   <para>
    <productname>Postgres</productname> supports the full set of
    <acronym>SQL</acronym> date and time types.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Date/Time Types</title>
     <titleabbrev>Date/Time</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="4">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Type</entry>
        <entry>Description</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
        <entry>Earliest</entry>
        <entry>Latest</entry>
        <entry>Resolution</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
        <entry><type>timestamp</type></entry>
        <entry>both date and time</entry>
        <entry>8 bytes</entry>
        <entry>4713 BC</entry>
        <entry>AD 1465001</entry>
        <entry>1 microsec / 14 digits</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
        <entry><type>timestamp [ with time zone ]</type></entry>
        <entry>date and time with time zone</entry>
        <entry>8 bytes</entry>
        <entry>1903 AD</entry>
        <entry>2037 AD</entry>
        <entry>1 microsec / 14 digits</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
        <entry><type>interval</type></entry>
        <entry>for time intervals</entry>
        <entry>12 bytes</entry>
        <entry>-178000000 years</entry>
        <entry>178000000 years</entry>
        <entry>1 microsecond</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
        <entry><type>date</type></entry>
        <entry>dates only</entry>
        <entry>4 bytes</entry>
        <entry>4713 BC</entry>
        <entry>32767 AD</entry>
        <entry>1 day</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
        <entry><type>time [ without time zone ]</type></entry>
        <entry>times of day only</entry>
        <entry>4 bytes</entry>
        <entry>00:00:00.00</entry>
        <entry>23:59:59.99</entry>
        <entry>1 microsecond</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
        <entry><type>time with time zone</type></entry>
        <entry>times of day only</entry>
        <entry>4 bytes</entry>
        <entry>00:00:00.00+12</entry>
        <entry>23:59:59.99-12</entry>
        <entry>1 microsecond</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>

    <note>
     <para>
      To ensure compatibility to earlier versions of <productname>Postgres</productname>
      we also continue to provide <type>datetime</type> (equivalent to <type>timestamp</type>) and
      <type>timespan</type> (equivalent to <type>interval</type>),
      however support for these is now restricted to having an
      implicit translation to <type>timestamp</type> and
      <type>interval</type>.
      The types <type>abstime</type>
      and <type>reltime</type> are lower precision types which are used internally.
      You are discouraged from using any of these types in new
      applications and are encouraged to move any old
      ones over when appropriate. Any or all of these internal types might disappear in a future release.
     </para>
    </note>
   </para>


   <sect2>
    <title>Date/Time Input</title>

    <para>
     Date and time input is accepted in almost any reasonable format, including
     <acronym>ISO-8601</acronym>, <acronym>SQL</acronym>-compatible, 
     traditional <productname>Postgres</productname>, and others.
     The ordering of month and day in date input can be ambiguous, therefore a setting
     exists to specify how it should be interpreted in ambiguous cases. The command
     <literal>SET DateStyle TO 'US'</literal> or <literal>SET DateStyle TO 'NonEuropean'</literal>
     specifies the variant "month before day", the command
     <literal>SET DateStyle TO 'European'</literal> sets the variant
     "day before month". The <literal>ISO</literal> style
     is the default but this default can be changed at compile time or at run time.
    </para>

    <para>
     See <xref endterm="datetime-appendix-title" linkend="datetime-appendix-title">
     for the exact parsing rules of date/time input and for the recognized time zones.
    </para>

    <para>
     Remember that any date or time input needs to be enclosed into single quotes,
     like text strings.
    </para>

    <sect3>
    <title>date</title>
    <para>
     The following are possible inputs for the <type>date</type> type.

     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Date Input</title>
      <titleabbrev>Date Inputs</titleabbrev>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Example</entry>
	 <entry>Description</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>January 8, 1999</entry>
	 <entry>Unambiguous</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>1999-01-08</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601 format, preferred</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>1/8/1999</entry>
	 <entry>US; read as August 1 in European mode</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>8/1/1999</entry>
	 <entry>European; read as August 1 in US mode</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>1/18/1999</entry>
	 <entry>US; read as January 18 in any mode</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>19990108</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601 year, month, day</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>990108</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601 year, month, day</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>1999.008</entry>
	 <entry>Year and day of year</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>99008</entry>
	 <entry>Year and day of year</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>January 8, 99 BC</entry>
	 <entry>Year 99 before the Common Era</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>

    <para>
     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Month Abbreviations</title>
      <titleabbrev>Month Abbreviations</titleabbrev>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Month</entry>
	 <entry>Abbreviations</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>April</entry>
	 <entry>Apr</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>August</entry>
	 <entry>Aug</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>December</entry>
	 <entry>Dec</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>February</entry>
	 <entry>Feb</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>January</entry>
	 <entry>Jan</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>July</entry>
	 <entry>Jul</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>June</entry>
	 <entry>Jun</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>March</entry>
	 <entry>Mar</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>November</entry>
	 <entry>Nov</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>October</entry>
	 <entry>Oct</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>September</entry>
	 <entry>Sep, Sept</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>

     <note>
      <para>
       The month <literal>May</literal> has no explicit abbreviation, for obvious reasons.
      </para>
     </note>
    </para>

    <para>
     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Day of Week Abbreviations</title>
      <titleabbrev>Day of Week Abbreviations</titleabbrev>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Day</entry>
	 <entry>Abbreviation</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>Sunday</entry>
	 <entry>Sun</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>Monday</entry>
	 <entry>Mon</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>Tuesday</entry>
	 <entry>Tue, Tues</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>Wednesday</entry>
	 <entry>Wed, Weds</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>Thursday</entry>
	 <entry>Thu, Thur, Thurs</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>Friday</entry>
	 <entry>Fri</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>Saturday</entry>
	 <entry>Sat</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>
    </sect3>

    <sect3>
     <title>time [ without time zone ]</title>

     <para>
      Per SQL99, this type can be referenced as <type>time</type> and
      as <type>time without time zone</type>.
     </para>

     <para>
      The following are valid <type>time</type> inputs.

      <table tocentry="1">
       <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Time Input</title>
       <titleabbrev>Time Inputs</titleabbrev>
       <tgroup cols="2">
	<thead>
	 <row>
	  <entry>Example</entry>
	  <entry>Description</entry>
	 </row>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
	 <row>
	  <entry>04:05:06.789</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>04:05:06</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>04:05</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>040506</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>04:05 AM</entry>
	  <entry>Same as 04:05; AM does not affect value</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>04:05 PM</entry>
	  <entry>Same as 16:05; input hour must be <= 12</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>z</entry>
	  <entry>Same as 00:00:00</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>zulu</entry>
	  <entry>Same as 00:00:00</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>allballs</entry>
	  <entry>Same as 00:00:00</entry>
	 </row>
	</tbody>
       </tgroup>
      </table>
     </para>
    </sect3>

    <sect3>
     <title>time with time zone</title>

     <para>
      This type is defined by SQL92, but the definition exhibits
      fundamental deficiencies which renders the type nearly useless. In
      most cases, a combination of <type>date</type>,
      <type>time</type>, and <type>timestamp</type>
      should provide a complete range of date/time functionality
      required by any application.
     </para>

     <para>
      <type>time with time zone</type> accepts all input also legal
      for the <type>time</type> type, appended with a legal time zone,
      as follows:

      <table tocentry="1">
       <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Time With Time
	Zone Input</title>
       <titleabbrev>Time With Time Zone Inputs</titleabbrev>
       <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Example</entry>
	 <entry>Description</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>04:05:06.789-8</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>04:05:06-08:00</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>04:05-08:00</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>040506-08</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>

     <para>
      Refer to <xref endterm="timezone-title" linkend="timezone"> for
      more examples of time zones.
     </para>
    </sect3>

    <sect3>
    <title>timestamp</title>

     <para>
      Valid input for the <type>timestamp</type> type consists of a concatenation
      of a date and a time, followed by an optional <literal>AD</literal> or
      <literal>BC</literal>, followed by an optional time zone. (See below.)
      Thus

      <programlisting>
1999-01-08 04:05:06 -8:00
      </programlisting>

      is a valid <type>timestamp</type> value, which is <acronym>ISO</acronym>-compliant.
      In addition, the wide-spread format

      <programlisting>
January 8 04:05:06 1999 PST
      </programlisting>
      is supported.
     </para>

     <para>
      <table tocentry="1" id="timezone">
       <title id="timezone-title"><productname>Postgres</productname> Time Zone Input</title>
       <titleabbrev>Time Zone Inputs</titleabbrev>
       <tgroup cols="2">
	<thead>
	 <row>
	  <entry>Time Zone</entry>
	  <entry>Description</entry>
	 </row>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
	 <row>
	  <entry>PST</entry>
	  <entry>Pacific Standard Time</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>-8:00</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601 offset for PST</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>-800</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601 offset for PST</entry>
	 </row>
	 <row>
	  <entry>-8</entry>
	  <entry>ISO-8601 offset for PST</entry>
	 </row>
	</tbody>
       </tgroup>
      </table>
     </para>
    </sect3>

    <sect3>
     <title>interval</title>

      <para>
       <type>interval</type>s can be specified with the following syntax:

      <programlisting>
  Quantity Unit [Quantity Unit...] [Direction]
@ Quantity Unit [Direction]
      </programlisting>

      where: <literal>Quantity</literal> is ..., <literal>-1</literal>,
      <literal>0</literal>, <literal>1</literal>, <literal>2</literal>, ...;
      <literal>Unit</literal> is <literal>second</literal>,
      <literal>minute</literal>, <literal>hour</literal>, <literal>day</literal>,
      <literal>week</literal>, <literal>month</literal>, <literal>year</literal>,
      <literal>decade</literal>, <literal>century</literal>, <literal>millennium</literal>,
      or abbreviations or plurals of these units;
      <literal>Direction</literal> can be <literal>ago</literal> or
      empty.
     </para>
    </sect3>

    <sect3>
     <title>Special values</title>

     <para>
      The following <acronym>SQL</acronym>-compatible functions can be used as date or time
      input for the corresponding datatype: <literal>CURRENT_DATE</literal>,
      <literal>CURRENT_TIME</literal>, <literal>CURRENT_TIMESTAMP</literal>.
     </para>
     <para>
      <productname>Postgres</productname> also supports several special constants for
      convenience.

     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Special Date/Time Constants</title>
      <titleabbrev>Constants</titleabbrev>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Constant</entry>
	 <entry>Description</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>current</entry>
	 <entry>Current transaction time, deferred</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>epoch</entry>
	 <entry>1970-01-01 00:00:00+00 (Unix system time zero)</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>infinity</entry>
	 <entry>Later than other valid times</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>-infinity</entry>
	 <entry>Earlier than other valid times</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>invalid</entry>
	 <entry>Illegal entry</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>now</entry>
	 <entry>Current transaction time</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>today</entry>
	 <entry>Midnight today</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>tomorrow</entry>
	 <entry>Midnight tomorrow</entry>
        </row>
	<row>
	 <entry>yesterday</entry>
	 <entry>Midnight yesterday</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
     <literal>'now'</literal> is resolved when the value is inserted, <literal>'current'</literal>
     is resolved everytime the value is retrieved. So you probably want to use <literal>'now'</literal>
     in most applications. (Of course you <emphasis>really</emphasis> want to use
     <literal>CURRENT_TIMESTAMP</literal>, which is equivalent to <literal>'now'</literal>.)
    </para>
    </sect3>

   </sect2>


   <sect2>
    <title>Date/Time Output</title>

    <para>
     Output formats can be set to one of the four styles
     ISO-8601, <acronym>SQL</acronym> (Ingres), traditional
     Postgres, and German, using the <command>SET DateStyle</command>.
     The default is the <acronym>ISO</acronym> format.

     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Date/Time Output Styles</title>
      <titleabbrev>Styles</titleabbrev>
      <tgroup cols="3">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Style Specification</entry>
	 <entry>Description</entry>
	 <entry>Example</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>'ISO'</entry>
	 <entry>ISO-8601 standard</entry>
	 <entry>1997-12-17 07:37:16-08</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>'SQL'</entry>
	 <entry>Traditional style</entry>
	 <entry>12/17/1997 07:37:16.00 PST</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>'Postgres'</entry>
	 <entry>Original style</entry>
	 <entry>Wed Dec 17 07:37:16 1997 PST</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>'German'</entry>
	 <entry>Regional style</entry>
	 <entry>17.12.1997 07:37:16.00 PST</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>

    <para>
     The output of the <type>date</type> and <type>time</type> styles is of course
     only the date or time part in accordance with the above examples.
    </para>

    <para>
     The <acronym>SQL</acronym> style has European and non-European (US) variants, 
     which determines whether month follows day or vica versa. (See also above
     at Date/Time Input, how this setting affects interpretation of input values.)

     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Date Order Conventions</title>
      <titleabbrev>Date Order</titleabbrev>
      <tgroup cols="3">
       <thead>
	<row>
	 <entry>Style Specification</entry>
	 <entry>Description</entry>
	 <entry>Example</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>European</entry>
	 <entry><replaceable>day</replaceable>/<replaceable>month</replaceable>/<replaceable>year</replaceable></entry>
	 <entry>17/12/1997 15:37:16.00 MET</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>US</entry>
	 <entry><replaceable>month</replaceable>/<replaceable>day</replaceable>/<replaceable>year</replaceable></entry>
	 <entry>12/17/1997 07:37:16.00 PST</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>

    <para>
    <type>interval</type> output looks like the input format, except that units like
    <literal>week</literal> or <literal>century</literal> are converted to years and days.
    In ISO mode the output looks like

<programlisting>
[ Quantity Units [ ... ] ] [ Days ] Hours:Minutes [ ago ]
</programlisting>
    </para>

    <para>
     There are several ways to affect the appearance of date/time types:

     <itemizedlist spacing="compact" mark="bullet">
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The <envar>PGDATESTYLE</envar> environment variable used by the backend directly 
	on postmaster start-up.
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The <envar>PGDATESTYLE</envar> environment variable used by the frontend libpq 
	on session start-up.
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	<command>SET DATESTYLE</command> <acronym>SQL</acronym> command.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
    </para>

   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Time Zones</title>

    <para>
     <productname>Postgres</productname> endeavors to be compatible with
     <acronym>SQL92</acronym> definitions for typical usage.
     However, the <acronym>SQL92</acronym> standard has an odd mix of date and
     time types and capabilities. Two obvious problems are:

     <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	Although the <type>date</type> type 
	does not have an associated time zone, the
	<type>time</type> type can or does.
       </para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
       <para>
	The default time zone is specified as a constant integer offset 
	from GMT/UTC.
       </para>
      </listitem>

     </itemizedlist>

     Time zones in the real world can have no meaning unless 
     associated with a date as well as a time
     since the offset may vary through the year with daylight savings
     time boundaries.
    </para>

    <para>
     To address these difficulties, <productname>Postgres</productname> 
     associates time zones only with date and time
     types which contain both date and time,
     and assumes local time for any type containing only
     date or time. Further, time zone support is derived from 
     the underlying operating system
     time zone capabilities, and hence can handle daylight savings time 
     and other expected behavior.
    </para>

    <para>
     <productname>Postgres</productname> obtains time zone support 
     from the underlying operating system for dates between 1902 and
     2038 (near the typical date limits for Unix-style
     systems). Outside of this range, all dates are assumed to be
     specified and used in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC).
    </para>

    <para>
     All dates and times are stored internally in Universal UTC,
     alternately known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). 
     Times are converted to local time on the database server before being
     sent to the client frontend, hence by default are in the server
     time zone.
    </para>

    <para>
     There are several ways to affect the time zone behavior:

     <itemizedlist spacing="compact" mark="bullet">
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The TZ environment variable used by the backend directly
	on postmaster start-up as the default time zone.
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The PGTZ environment variable set at the client used by libpq 
	to send time zone information to the backend upon connection.
       </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The <acronym>SQL</acronym> command <command>SET TIME ZONE</command>
	sets the time zone for the session.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
    </para>

    <para>
     If an invalid time zone is specified,
     the time zone becomes GMT (on most systems anyway).
    </para>

    <para>

     <note>
      <para>
       If the compiler option USE_AUSTRALIAN_RULES is set 
       then <literal>EST</literal> refers to Australia Eastern Std Time,
       which has an offset of +10:00 hours from UTC.
      </para>
     </note>
    </para>

   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Internals</title>

    <para>
     <productname>Postgres</productname> uses Julian dates
     for all date/time calculations. They have the nice property of correctly
     predicting/calculating any date more recent than 4713BC
     to far into the future, using the assumption that the length of the
     year is 365.2425 days.
    </para>

    <para>
     Date conventions before the 19th century make for interesting reading,
     but are not consistant enough to warrant coding into a date/time handler.
    </para>
   </sect2>

  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="boolean-type">
   <title>Boolean Type</title>

   <para>
    <productname>Postgres</productname> supports <type>bool</type> as
    the <acronym>SQL99</acronym> boolean type.
    <type>bool</type> can have one of only two states: 'true' or 'false'. 
    A third state, 'unknown', is not
    implemented and is not suggested in <acronym>SQL99</acronym>; 
    <acronym>NULL</acronym> is an
    effective substitute. <type>bool</type> can be used in any boolean expression, 
    and boolean expressions
    always evaluate to a result compatible with this type.</para>

   <para>
    <type>bool</type> uses 1 byte of storage.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Boolean Type</title>
     <titleabbrev>Booleans</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="3">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>State</entry>
	<entry>Output</entry>
	<entry>Input</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
	<entry>True</entry>
	<entry>'t'</entry>
	<entry>TRUE, 't', 'true', 'y', 'yes', '1'</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>False</entry>
	<entry>'f'</entry>
	<entry>FALSE, 'f', 'false', 'n', 'no', '0'</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="geometric-types">
   <title>Geometric Types</title>

   <para>
    Geometric types represent two-dimensional spatial objects. 
    The most fundamental type,
    the point, forms the basis for all of the other types.
   </para>

   <para>
    <table tocentry="1">
     <title><productname>Postgres</productname> Geometric Types</title>
     <titleabbrev>Geometrics</titleabbrev>
     <tgroup cols="4">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Geometric Type</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
	<entry>Representation</entry>
	<entry>Description</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
       <row>
	<entry>point</entry>
	<entry>16 bytes</entry>
	<entry>(x,y)</entry>
	<entry>Point in space</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>line</entry>
	<entry>32 bytes</entry>
	<entry>((x1,y1),(x2,y2))</entry>
	<entry>Infinite line</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>lseg</entry>
	<entry>32 bytes</entry>
	<entry>((x1,y1),(x2,y2))</entry>
	<entry>Finite line segment</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>box</entry>
	<entry>32 bytes</entry>
	<entry>((x1,y1),(x2,y2))</entry>
	<entry>Rectangular box</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>path</entry>
	<entry>4+32n bytes</entry>
	<entry>((x1,y1),...)</entry>
	<entry>Closed path (similar to polygon)</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>path</entry>
	<entry>4+32n bytes</entry>
	<entry>[(x1,y1),...]</entry>
	<entry>Open path</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>polygon</entry>
	<entry>4+32n bytes</entry>
	<entry>((x1,y1),...)</entry>
	<entry>Polygon (similar to closed path)</entry>
       </row>
       <row>
	<entry>circle</entry>
	<entry>24 bytes</entry>
	<entry><(x,y),r></entry>
	<entry>Circle (center and radius)</entry>
       </row>
      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>

   <para>
    A rich set of functions and operators is available to perform various geometric
    operations such as scaling, translation, rotation, and determining 
    intersections.
   </para>

   <sect2>
    <title>Point</title>

    <para>
     Points are the fundamental two-dimensional building block for geometric types.
    </para>

    <para>
     <type>point</type> is specified using the following syntax:

     <synopsis>
( <replaceable>x</replaceable> , <replaceable>y</replaceable> )
  <replaceable>x</replaceable> , <replaceable>y</replaceable>
     </synopsis>

     where the arguments are

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term><replaceable>x</replaceable></term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The x-axis coordinate as a floating point number.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
       <term><replaceable>y</replaceable></term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The y-axis coordinate as a floating point number.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Line Segment</title>

    <para>
     Line segments (<type>lseg</type>) are represented by pairs of points.
    </para>

    <para>
     <type>lseg</type> is specified using the following syntax:

     <synopsis>
( ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ( <replaceable>x2</replaceable> , <replaceable>y2</replaceable> ) )
  ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ( <replaceable>x2</replaceable> , <replaceable>y2</replaceable> )  
    <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable>   ,   <replaceable>x2</replaceable> , <replaceable>y2</replaceable>
     </synopsis>

     where the arguments are

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term>(<replaceable>x1</replaceable>,<replaceable>y1</replaceable>)</term>
       <term>(<replaceable>x2</replaceable>,<replaceable>y2</replaceable>)</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 The endpoints of the line segment.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Box</title>

    <para>
     Boxes are represented by pairs of points which are opposite
     corners of the box.
    </para>

    <para>
     <type>box</type> is specified using the following syntax:

     <synopsis>
( ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ( <replaceable>x2</replaceable> , <replaceable>y2</replaceable> ) )
  ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ( <replaceable>x2</replaceable> , <replaceable>y2</replaceable> )  
    <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable>   ,   <replaceable>x2</replaceable> , <replaceable>y2</replaceable>
     </synopsis>

     where the arguments are

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term>(<replaceable>x1</replaceable>,<replaceable>y1</replaceable>)</term>
       <term>(<replaceable>x2</replaceable>,<replaceable>y2</replaceable>)</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 Opposite corners of the box.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>

    <para>
     Boxes are output using the first syntax.
     The corners are reordered on input to store
     the lower left corner first and the upper right corner last.
     Other corners of the box can be entered, but the lower
     left and upper right corners are determined from the input and stored.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Path</title>

    <para>
     Paths are represented by connected sets of points. Paths can be "open", where
     the first and last points in the set are not connected, and "closed",
     where the first and last point are connected. Functions
     <function>popen(p)</function>
     and
     <function>pclose(p)</function>
     are supplied to force a path to be open or closed, and functions
     <function>isopen(p)</function>
     and
     <function>isclosed(p)</function>
     are supplied to test for either type in a query.
    </para>

    <para>
     <type>path</type> is specified using the following syntax:

     <synopsis>
( ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ... , ( <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> ) )
[ ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ... , ( <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> ) ]
  ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ... , ( <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> )  
  ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable>   , ... ,   <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> )  
    <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable>   , ... ,   <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable>    
     </synopsis>

     where the arguments are

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term>(<replaceable>x</replaceable>,<replaceable>y</replaceable>)</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 Endpoints of the line segments comprising the path.
	 A leading square bracket ("[") indicates an open path, while
	 a leading parenthesis ("(") indicates a closed path.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>

    <para>
     Paths are output using the first syntax.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Polygon</title>

    <para>
     Polygons are represented by sets of points. Polygons should probably be
     considered equivalent to closed paths, but are stored differently 
     and have their own set of support routines.
    </para>

    <para>
     <type>polygon</type> is specified using the following syntax:

     <synopsis>
( ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ... , ( <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> ) )
  ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable> ) , ... , ( <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> )  
  ( <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable>   , ... ,   <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable> )  
    <replaceable>x1</replaceable> , <replaceable>y1</replaceable>   , ... ,   <replaceable>xn</replaceable> , <replaceable>yn</replaceable>    
     </synopsis>

     where the arguments are

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term>(<replaceable>x</replaceable>,<replaceable>y</replaceable>)</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 Endpoints of the line segments comprising the boundary of the
	 polygon.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>

    <para>
     Polygons are output using the first syntax.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2>
    <title>Circle</title>

    <para>
     Circles are represented by a center point and a radius.
    </para>

    <para>
     <type>circle</type> is specified using the following syntax:

     <synopsis>
&lt; ( <replaceable>x</replaceable> , <replaceable>y</replaceable> ) , <replaceable>r</replaceable> &gt;
( ( <replaceable>x</replaceable> , <replaceable>y</replaceable> ) , <replaceable>r</replaceable> )
  ( <replaceable>x</replaceable> , <replaceable>y</replaceable> ) , <replaceable>r</replaceable>  
    <replaceable>x</replaceable> , <replaceable>y</replaceable>   , <replaceable>r</replaceable>  
     </synopsis>

     where the arguments are

     <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
       <term>(<replaceable>x</replaceable>,<replaceable>y</replaceable>)</term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 Center of the circle.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
       <term><replaceable>r</replaceable></term>
       <listitem>
	<para>
	 Radius of the circle.
	</para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
    </para>

    <para>
     Circles are output using the first syntax.
    </para>
   </sect2>

  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="net-types">
   <title>Network Address Data Types</title>

   <para>
    <productname>Postgres</> offers data types to store IP and MAC
    addresses.  It is preferrable to use these types over plain text
    types, because these types offer input error checking and several
    specialized operators and functions.

    <table tocentry="1" id="net-types-table">
     <title>Network Address Data Types</title>
     <tgroup cols="4">
      <thead>
       <row>
	<entry>Name</entry>
	<entry>Storage</entry>
	<entry>Description</entry>
	<entry>Range</entry>
       </row>
      </thead>
      <tbody>

       <row>
	<entry>cidr</entry>
	<entry>11 bytes</entry>
	<entry>IP networks</entry>
	<entry>valid IPv4 networks</entry>
       </row>

       <row>
	<entry>inet</entry>
	<entry>11 bytes</entry>
	<entry>IP hosts and networks</entry>
	<entry>valid IPv4 hosts</entry>
       </row>

       <row>
	<entry>macaddr</entry>
	<entry>6 bytes</entry>
	<entry>MAC addresses</entry>
	<entry>customary formats</entry>
       </row>

      </tbody>
     </tgroup>
    </table>
   </para>

   <para>
    IP v6 is not supported, yet.
   </para>


   <sect2 id="cidr-type">
    <title><type>cidr</></title>

    <para>
     The <type>cidr</type> type holds an IP network.  The format for
     specifying classless networks is <replaceable
     class="parameter">x.x.x.x/y</> where <replaceable
     class="parameter">x.x.x.x</> is the network and <replaceable
     class="parameter">y</> is the number of bits in the netmask.  If
     <replaceable class="parameter">y</> omitted, it is calculated
     using assumptions from the older classfull naming system except
     that it is extended to include at least all of the octets in the
     input.
    </para>

    <para>
     Here are some examples:

     <table tocentry="1">
      <title><type>cidr</> Type Input Examples</title>
      <tgroup cols="2">
       <thead> 
	<row> 
	 <entry>CIDR Input</entry>
	 <entry>CIDR Displayed</entry>
	</row>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
	<row>
	 <entry>192.168.100.128/25</entry>
	 <entry>192.168.100.128/25</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>192.168/25</entry>
	 <entry>192.168.0.0/25</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>192.168.1</entry>
	 <entry>192.168.1/24</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>192.168</entry>
	 <entry>192.168.0/24</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>128.1</entry>
	 <entry>128.1/16</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>128</entry>
	 <entry>128.0/16</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>128.1.2</entry>
	 <entry>128.1.2/24</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>10.1.2</entry>
	 <entry>10.1.2/24</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>10.1</entry>
	 <entry>10.1/16</entry>
	</row>
	<row>
	 <entry>10</entry>
	 <entry>10/8</entry>
	</row>
       </tbody>
      </tgroup>
     </table>
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2 id="inet-type">
    <title><type>inet</type></title>

    <para>
     The <type>inet</type> type holds an IP host address, and
     optionally the identity of the subnet it is in, all in one field.
     Note that if you want to store networks only, you should use the
     <type>cidr</type> type.  The <type>inet</type> type is similar to
     the <type>cidr</type> type except that the bits in the host part
     can be non-zero.  Functions exist to extract the various elements
     of the field.
    </para>

    <para>
     The input format for this type is <replaceable
     class="parameter">x.x.x.x/y</replaceable> where <replaceable
     class="parameter">x.x.x.x</replaceable> is an internet host and
     <replaceable class="parameter">y</replaceable> is the number of
     bits in the netmask.  If the <replaceable
     class="parameter">y</replaceable> part is left off, then the
     netmask is 32 and you are effectively only storing the address of
     a single host.
    </para>
   </sect2>

   <sect2 id="macaddr-type">
    <title><type>macaddr</></>

    <para>
     The <type>macaddr</> type stores MAC addresses, i.e., Ethernet
     card hardware addresses (although MAC addresses are used for
     other purposes as well).  Input is accepted in various customary
     formats, including <literal>'08002b:010203'</>,
     <literal>'08002b-010203'</>, <literal>'0800.2b01.0203'</>,
     <literal>'08-00-2b-01-02-03'</>, and
     <literal>'08:00:2b:01:02:03'</>, which would all specify the same
     address.  Upper and lower case is accepted for the digits
     <literal>a</> through <literal>f</>.  Output is always in the
     latter of the given forms.
    </para>
   </sect2>

  </sect1>

 </chapter>

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