Client-requested cast mode to emulate Pg8.2 on v8.3

Hi all -

I've spotted the cast-related "regressions" being discussed here
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2007-11/msg00505.php

... as a Moodle developer supporting Pg, the stricter cast rules in pg
8.3 are somewhat worrying. Is there a straightforward way to configure a
given DB or a client connection to emulate Pg v8.2.x casting rules?

I say they are worrying because Moodle code has many ocurrences of

/* bla.id is an INT8 */
SELECT x,y,z FROM bla WHERE id='1';

And we also often quote INT values for inserts/updates, I am not sure if
this is supported either.

This is quite widespread in the codebase -- for histerical raisins that
will be familiar to anyone involved in LAMP projects -- and unlikely to
change quickly.

For the record, I generally agree that the stricter rules are good... as
long as there's fallback to the old lazy-fuzzy-ambiguous mode to help
large projects make the transition ;-)

cheers,

martin
PS: I'm not actually in the list - CCs welcome...