BUG #5372: insert into fails with integer expression type char error

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference: 5372
Logged by: Gray Watson
Email address: gray(dot)pg(at)mailnull(dot)com
PostgreSQL version: 8.3.9
Operating system: debian linux
Description: insert into fails with integer expression type char
error
Details:

I have 2 tables which have the same schema (as far as I can see) but when I
try to do the following in psql:

INSERT INTO old_log SELECT * FROM log WHERE time < '2010-02-01';

I get the error:

ERROR: column "port" is of type integer but expression is of type character

old_log is:

Column | Type | Modifiers

---------+-----------------------------+------------------------------------
----------------
port | integer |
session | character(32) |
account | text |
slot | text |
comment | text | not null
time | timestamp without time zone | default ('now'::text)::timestamp(6)
with time zone
extra | text |
addr | text |

log is:

Column | Type | Modifiers

---------+-----------------------------+------------------------------------
----------------
port | integer |
session | character(32) |
account | text |
slot | text |
comment | text | not null
time | timestamp without time zone | default ('now'::text)::timestamp(6)
with time zone
extra | text |
addr | text |
Indexes:
"log_account" btree (account)
"log_time" btree ("time")

I tried making port have a default 0 and converting the null port values in
log to be 0. I also dumped the table and looked at the fields and could not
see a text one.

Various different web searches leave me baffled. I see some array casting
bullets in the 8.4.X release notes. If that is the fix, is there a 8.3.10
in the works?

Thanks.

"Gray Watson" <gray(dot)pg(at)mailnull(dot)com> writes:
> I have 2 tables which have the same schema (as far as I can see) but when I
> try to do the following in psql:

> INSERT INTO old_log SELECT * FROM log WHERE time < '2010-02-01';

> I get the error:

> ERROR: column "port" is of type integer but expression is of type character

That's just bizarre. The only thought that comes to mind is that the
error is in a trigger or rule attached to old_log, but you aren't
showing any such thing in your psql \d output.

If you pg_dump the tables and restore into another database, can you
still replicate the misbehavior? In any case it might be helpful to
look at "pg_dump -s -t table" output for these two tables.

Another thing that might be relevant is whether you've ever dropped
any columns in either table?

regards, tom lane