Re: BUG #4862: different results in to_date() between 8.3.7 & 8.4.RC1

Brendan Jurd <direvus(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> I hope that answers your question. to_date() is by nature a weird
> beast with many strange corners in its behaviour, and it's hard to
> strike a balance between backwards compatibility and Least
> Astonishment. My personal preference would be for a 100% strict
> interpretation of the format pattern, and a pox on anyone who has been
> relying on sloppy patterns! But that's not very practical. I would
> welcome any suggestions for further refinements.

My feeling about it is that we usually try to match Oracle's behavior
for to_date/to_char, so the $64 question is whether Oracle allows a
leading space in these same cases. Anyone have it handy to test?

regards, tom lane