Re: length limitation in '=' operator when comparing TEXT fields ?

Hi,

i have a little problem when selecting entries from a table, specified by a
long match on a field of type TEXT. Is there a length limitation for the '='
operator when comparing a field of type TEXT to a given string ?

Example:

SELECT description FROM sequences_33 WHERE description LIKE 'gi 17559974%';

Result:

gi 17559974 ref NP_506864.1 (NM_074463) acid phosphatase [Caenorhabditis
elega
ns] gi 7499536 pir T21181 hypothetical protein F21A3.2 - Caenorhabditis
elegans
gi 3876155 emb CAB04153.1 (Z81509) predicted using Genefinder Similarity to
As
pergillus acid phosphatase (TR:Q12546) cDNA EST yk3g4.5 comes from this gene
cDN
A EST yk69f10.5 comes from this gene cDNA EST yk231b3.5 comes from this gene
cDN
A EST yk285e4.5 comes from this gene cDN
(1 row)

Thats ok. And now:

SELECT description FROM sequences_33 WHERE description=' gi 17559974 ref
NP_506864.1 (NM_074463) acid phosphatase [Caenorhabditis elega
ns] gi 7499536 pir T21181 hypothetical protein F21A3.2 - Caenorhabditis
elegans
gi 3876155 emb CAB04153.1 (Z81509) predicted using Genefinder Similarity to
As
pergillus acid phosphatase (TR:Q12546) cDNA EST yk3g4.5 comes from this gene
cDN
A EST yk69f10.5 comes from this gene cDNA EST yk231b3.5 comes from this gene
cDN
A EST yk285e4.5 comes from this gene cDN'
(0 row)

The two strings are identical and there are no confusing characters in them.

Any idea ?

PS: The type of field description is TEXT

Thanx in advance

Michael

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"Michael Beckstette" <mbeckste(at)TechFak(dot)Uni-Bielefeld(dot)DE> writes:
> i have a little problem when selecting entries from a table, specified by a
> long match on a field of type TEXT. Is there a length limitation for the '='
> operator when comparing a field of type TEXT to a given string ?

No.

> Example:

> SELECT description FROM sequences_33 WHERE description LIKE 'gi 17559974%';
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> [ finds a row ]

> SELECT description FROM sequences_33 WHERE description=' gi 17559974 ref
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> [ finds no row ]

You seem to think that leading spaces are insignificant. They are not.

regards, tom lane

Hi,
ok my fault. It was a cut and paste error, there is no leading blank. In my
view this only happens when the strings to compare are quite "long".
If there is no limitation for the '=' operator itself,could it be possible that
something like this happens when the query is passed through LIPQ's PQexec
function ?

My system:
PostgreSQL 7.1.2 on sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1, compiled by GCC 2.95

Regards

Michael Beckstette