Column types via ODBC interface

Hi,

I'm trying to query the table definition of a table in a postgres
database via the ODBC interface but I'm getting some unexpected results.
I'd be grateful for any comments/ideas.

I'm using postgresql 6.5.3, RedHat Linux 6.2, libiodbc 2.50.3. For the
mysql test I'm using version 3.22.32.

Here's a table which shows the column name, the type used for "create
table" and what the odbc interface returns for a database hosted by
postgresql and mysql respectively.

column column postgres ODBC mysql ODBC
name type type, size type, size
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
f1 bool SQL_CHAR, 1 SQL_TINYINT, 1
f2 char SQL_CHAR, 1 SQL_CHAR, 1
f3 char(10) SQL_CHAR, 10 SQL_VARCHAR, 10
f4 date SQL_DATE, 10 SQL_DATE, 10
f5 float SQL_FLOAT, 15 SQL_REAL, 10
f6 float(3) SQL_REAL, 7 SQL_REAL, 10
f7 real SQL_FLOAT, 15 SQL_DOUBLE, 16
f8 smallint SQL_SMALLINT, 5 SQL_SMALLINT, 6
f9 int SQL_INTEGER, 10 SQL_INTEGER, 11
f10 decimal(9,2) SQL_VARCHAR, 254 SQL_DECIMAL, 9
f11 numeric(9,2) SQL_VARCHAR, 254 SQL_DECIMAL, 9
f12 time SQL_TIME, 8 SQL_TIME, 8
f13 timestamp SQL_TIMESTAMP, 19 SQL_TIMESTAMP, 19
f14 varchar(100) SQL_VARCHAR, 100 SQL_VARCHAR, 100

Now, I was surprised by the mysql results for columns f3, f5 and f7 but
at least they're about right i.e. a double isn't too different from a
float and a char(10) can be stored in a varchar(10).

Unfortunately, the postgresql results seem to be fairly seriously wrong
for columns f1, f7, f10 and f11 and a bit wrong for column f6. IMHO :-).
After all, you can't insert a value into a decimal(9,2) with psql using
"90.2" - you have to write it without the quotes which makes sense.

Can anyone elightenment me about these results. Perhaps MySQL is wrong
and PostgreSQL is right? Does the Postgres ODBC v 7 interface fix things
(if it's broken)? Am I just an idiot that has done something completely
wrong :-) ?

TIA for any help.

Cheers, Matt.

--
Matt Goodall | Isotek Electronics Ltd
email: mgg(at)isotek(dot)co(dot)uk | Claro House, Servia Road
Tel: +44 113 2343202 | Leeds, LS7 1NL
Fax: +44 113 2342918 | England