Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/build.xml
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/build.xml
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/build.xml
@@ -369,6 +369,8 @@
   <property name="preparethreshold" value="5" />
   <property name="loglevel" value="0" />
   <property name="protocolVersion" value="0" />
+  <property name="binarytransfer" value="true" />
+  <property name="forcebinary" value="true" />
 
   <!-- The tests now build to a separate directory and jarfile from the
        driver build, to ensure we're really testing against the jar we just
@@ -411,6 +413,8 @@
       <sysproperty key="preparethreshold" value="${preparethreshold}" />
       <sysproperty key="loglevel" value="${loglevel}" />
       <sysproperty key="protocolVersion" value="${protocolVersion}" />
+      <sysproperty key="binaryTransfer" value="${binarytransfer}" />
+      <sysproperty key="org.postgresql.forcebinary" value="${forcebinary}" />
 
       <classpath>
         <pathelement location="${jardir}/postgresql.jar" />
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/doc/pgjdbc.xml
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/doc/pgjdbc.xml
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/doc/pgjdbc.xml
@@ -567,6 +567,26 @@ Connection conn = DriverManager.getConne
       </varlistentry>
 
       <varlistentry>
+       <term><varname>binaryTransfer</varname> = <type>boolean</type></term>
+       <listitem>
+        <para>
+         The postgresql protocol v3 supports both binary and text transfer
+         of fields. When binaryTransfer is enabled the driver
+         requests binary transfer for all supported types. Using the binary
+         transfer is more optimal for both the server and the client.
+         
+         Previously driver versions supported only text transfers. The old
+         functionality can be obtained by setting this field to false.
+         
+         Currently the following column types currently support binary encoding:
+         <literal>BYTEA</literal>, <literal>TIMEx</literal>,
+         <literal>TIMESTAMP*</literal>, <literal>DATE</literal>,
+         <literal>INT*</literal> and <literal>FLOAT*</literal>.
+        </para>
+       </listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>prepareThreshold</varname> = <type>int</type></term>
        <listitem>
         <para>
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/Driver.java.in
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/Driver.java.in
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/Driver.java.in
@@ -442,6 +442,8 @@ public class Driver implements java.sql.
                   "When connections that are not explicitly closed are garbage collected, log the stacktrace from the opening of the connection to trace the leak source."},
                 { "prepareThreshold", Boolean.FALSE,
                   "Default statement prepare threshold (numeric)." },
+                { "binaryTransfer", Boolean.FALSE,
+                  "Use binary format for sending and receiving data if possible." },
                 { "charSet", Boolean.FALSE,
                   "When connecting to a pre-7.3 server, the database encoding to assume is in use." },
                 { "compatible", Boolean.FALSE,
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/BaseConnection.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/BaseConnection.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/BaseConnection.java
@@ -146,4 +146,13 @@ public interface BaseConnection extends
      * @return a ProtocolConnection.TRANSACTION_* constant.
      */
     public int getTransactionState();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns true if value for the given oid should be sent using binary
+     * transfer. False if value should be sent using text transfer.
+     * 
+     * @param oid The oid to check.
+     * @return True for binary transfer, false for text transfer.
+     */
+    public boolean binaryTransferSend(int oid);
 }
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/ParameterList.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/ParameterList.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/ParameterList.java
@@ -123,6 +123,17 @@ public interface ParameterList {
     void setBytea(int index, InputStream stream, int length) throws SQLException;
 
     /**
+     * Binds given byte[] value to a parameter. The bytes must already
+     * be in correct format matching the OID.
+     *
+     * @param index the 1-based parameter index to bind.
+     * @param value the bytes to send.
+     * @param oid the type OID of the parameter.
+     * @throws SQLException on error or if <code>index</code> is out of range
+     */
+    void setBinaryParameter(int index, byte[] value, int oid) throws SQLException;
+    
+    /**
      * Binds a SQL NULL value to a parameter.
      * Associated with the parameter is a typename for the parameter that
      * should correspond to an entry in pg_types.
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/QueryExecutor.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/QueryExecutor.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/QueryExecutor.java
@@ -98,6 +98,11 @@ public interface QueryExecutor {
     static int QUERY_DISALLOW_BATCHING = 128;
 
     /**
+     * Flag for query execution to avoid using binary transfer.
+     */
+    static int QUERY_NO_BINARY_TRANSFER = 256;
+
+    /**
      * Execute a Query, passing results to a provided ResultHandler.
      *
      * @param query the query to execute; must be a query returned from
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v2/FastpathParameterList.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/v2/FastpathParameterList.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v2/FastpathParameterList.java
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ class FastpathParameterList implements P
         Arrays.fill(paramValues, null);
     }
 
+    public void setBinaryParameter(int index, byte[] value, int oid) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();        
+    }
+
     private final Object[] paramValues;
 }
 
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v2/SimpleParameterList.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/v2/SimpleParameterList.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v2/SimpleParameterList.java
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements Par
         Arrays.fill(paramValues, null);
     }
 
+    public void setBinaryParameter(int index, byte[] value, int oid) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();        
+    }
+
     private final Object[] paramValues;
     
     private final boolean useEStringSyntax;
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v3/CompositeParameterList.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/v3/CompositeParameterList.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v3/CompositeParameterList.java
@@ -84,6 +84,11 @@ class CompositeParameterList implements
         subparams[sub].setStringParameter(index - offsets[sub], value, oid);
     }
 
+    public void setBinaryParameter(int index, byte[] value, int oid) throws SQLException {
+        int sub = findSubParam(index);
+        subparams[sub].setBinaryParameter(index - offsets[sub], value, oid);
+    }
+
     public void setBytea(int index, byte[] data, int offset, int length) throws SQLException {
         int sub = findSubParam(index);
         subparams[sub].setBytea(index - offsets[sub], data, offset, length);
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v3/QueryExecutorImpl.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/v3/QueryExecutorImpl.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v3/QueryExecutorImpl.java
@@ -1153,6 +1153,9 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
         query.unprepare();
         processDeadParsedQueries();
 
+        // Remove any cached Field values
+        query.setFields(null);
+
         String statementName = null;
         if (!oneShot)
         {
@@ -1241,7 +1244,8 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
         pendingParseQueue.add(new Object[]{query, query.getStatementName()});
     }
 
-    private void sendBind(SimpleQuery query, SimpleParameterList params, Portal portal) throws IOException {
+    private void sendBind(SimpleQuery query, SimpleParameterList params,
+                          Portal portal, boolean noBinaryTransfer) throws IOException {
         //
         // Send Bind.
         //
@@ -1275,12 +1279,27 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
                 encodedSize += (long)4 + params.getV3Length(i);
         }
 
+        // This is not the number of binary fields, but the total number
+        // of fields if any of them are binary or zero if all of them
+        // are text.
+
+        int numBinaryFields = 0;
+        Field[] fields = query.getFields();
+        if (!noBinaryTransfer && fields != null) {
+            for (int i = 0; i < fields.length; ++i) {
+                if (useBinary(fields[i])) {
+                    fields[i].setFormat(Field.BINARY_FORMAT);
+                    numBinaryFields = fields.length;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         encodedSize = 4
                       + (encodedPortalName == null ? 0 : encodedPortalName.length) + 1
                       + (encodedStatementName == null ? 0 : encodedStatementName.length) + 1
                       + 2 + params.getParameterCount() * 2
                       + 2 + encodedSize
-                      + 2;
+                      + 2 + numBinaryFields * 2;
 
         // backend's MaxAllocSize is the largest message that can
         // be received from a client.  If we have a bigger value
@@ -1335,7 +1354,10 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
             }
         }
 
-        pgStream.SendInteger2(0);   // # of result format codes (0)
+        pgStream.SendInteger2(numBinaryFields);   // # of result format codes
+        for (int i = 0; i < numBinaryFields; ++i) {
+            pgStream.SendInteger2(fields[i].getFormat());
+        }
 
         pendingBindQueue.add(portal);
 
@@ -1345,6 +1367,19 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true if the specified field should be retrieved using binary
+     * encoding.
+     *  
+     * @param field The field whose Oid type to analyse.  
+     * @return True if {@link Field#BINARY_FORMAT} should be used, false if
+     * {@link Field#BINARY_FORMAT}.
+     */
+    private boolean useBinary(Field field) {
+        int oid = field.getOID();
+        return protoConnection.useBinaryForReceive(oid);
+    }
+
     private void sendDescribePortal(SimpleQuery query, Portal portal) throws IOException {
         //
         // Send Describe.
@@ -1485,6 +1520,7 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
         boolean describeOnly = (flags & QueryExecutor.QUERY_DESCRIBE_ONLY) != 0;
         boolean usePortal = (flags & QueryExecutor.QUERY_FORWARD_CURSOR) != 0 && !noResults && !noMeta && fetchSize > 0 && !describeOnly;
         boolean oneShot = (flags & QueryExecutor.QUERY_ONESHOT) != 0 && !usePortal;
+        boolean noBinaryTransfer = (flags & QUERY_NO_BINARY_TRANSFER) != 0;
 
         // Work out how many rows to fetch in this pass.
 
@@ -1544,13 +1580,18 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
             portal = new Portal(query, portalName);
         }
 
-        sendBind(query, params, portal);
+        sendBind(query, params, portal, noBinaryTransfer);
 
         // A statement describe will also output a RowDescription,
         // so don't reissue it here if we've already done so.
         //
-        if (!noMeta && !describeStatement && !query.isPortalDescribed())
-            sendDescribePortal(query, portal);
+        if (!noMeta && !describeStatement) {
+            // don't send describe if we already have cached the
+            // descriptionrow from previous executions
+            if (query.getFields() == null) {
+              sendDescribePortal(query, portal);
+            }
+        }
 
         sendExecute(query, portal, rows);
     }
@@ -1829,7 +1870,6 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
 
                 if (logger.logDebug())
                     logger.debug(" <=BE DataRow");
-
                 break;
 
             case 'E':  // Error Response (response to pretty much everything; backend then skips until Sync)
@@ -1908,7 +1948,8 @@ public class QueryExecutorImpl implement
 
                 if (doneAfterRowDescNoData) {
                     Object describeData[] = (Object[])pendingDescribeStatementQueue.get(describeIndex++);
-                    Query currentQuery = (Query)describeData[0];
+                    SimpleQuery currentQuery = (SimpleQuery)describeData[0];
+                    currentQuery.setFields(fields);
 
                     handler.handleResultRows(currentQuery, fields, tuples, null);
                     tuples = null;
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v3/SimpleParameterList.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/core/v3/SimpleParameterList.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/core/v3/SimpleParameterList.java
@@ -32,11 +32,14 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
     private final static int OUT = 2;
     private final static int INOUT = IN|OUT;
 
+    private final static int TEXT = 0;
+    private final static int BINARY = 4;
+
     SimpleParameterList(int paramCount, ProtocolConnectionImpl protoConnection) {
         this.paramValues = new Object[paramCount];
         this.paramTypes = new int[paramCount];
         this.encoded = new byte[paramCount][];
-        this.direction = new int[paramCount];
+        this.flags = new int[paramCount];
         this.protoConnection = protoConnection;
     }        
     
@@ -45,10 +48,10 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
         if (index < 1 || index > paramValues.length)
             throw new PSQLException(GT.tr("The column index is out of range: {0}, number of columns: {1}.", new Object[]{new Integer(index), new Integer(paramValues.length)}), PSQLState.INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE );
 
-        direction[index-1] |= OUT;
+        flags[index-1] |= OUT;
     }
 
-    private void bind(int index, Object value, int oid) throws SQLException {
+    private void bind(int index, Object value, int oid, int binary) throws SQLException {
         if (index < 1 || index > paramValues.length)
             throw new PSQLException(GT.tr("The column index is out of range: {0}, number of columns: {1}.", new Object[]{new Integer(index), new Integer(paramValues.length)}), PSQLState.INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE );
 
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
 
         encoded[index] = null;
         paramValues[index] = value ;
-        direction[index] |= IN;
+        flags[index] = direction(index) | IN | binary;
         
         // If we are setting something to an UNSPECIFIED NULL, don't overwrite
         // our existing type for it.  We don't need the correct type info to
@@ -77,7 +80,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
         int count=0;
         for( int i=paramTypes.length; --i >= 0;)
         {
-            if ((direction[i] & OUT) == OUT )
+            if ((direction(i) & OUT) == OUT)
             {
                 count++;
             }
@@ -93,7 +96,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
         int count=0;
         for( int i=0; i< paramTypes.length;i++)
         {
-            if (direction[i] != OUT )
+            if (direction(i) != OUT )
             {
                 count++;
             }
@@ -107,27 +110,31 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
         data[2] = (byte)(value >> 8);
         data[1] = (byte)(value >> 16);
         data[0] = (byte)(value >> 24);
-        bind(index, data, Oid.INT4);
+        bind(index, data, Oid.INT4, BINARY);
     }
 
     public void setLiteralParameter(int index, String value, int oid) throws SQLException {
-        bind(index, value, oid);
+        bind(index, value, oid, TEXT);
     }
 
     public void setStringParameter(int index, String value, int oid) throws SQLException {
-        bind(index, value, oid);
+        bind(index, value, oid, TEXT);
+    }
+
+    public void setBinaryParameter(int index, byte[] value, int oid) throws SQLException {
+        bind(index, value, oid, BINARY);
     }
 
     public void setBytea(int index, byte[] data, int offset, int length) throws SQLException {
-        bind(index, new StreamWrapper(data, offset, length), Oid.BYTEA);
+        bind(index, new StreamWrapper(data, offset, length), Oid.BYTEA, BINARY);
     }
 
     public void setBytea(int index, InputStream stream, int length) throws SQLException {
-        bind(index, new StreamWrapper(stream, length), Oid.BYTEA);
+        bind(index, new StreamWrapper(stream, length), Oid.BYTEA, BINARY);
     }
 
     public void setNull(int index, int oid) throws SQLException {
-        bind(index, NULL_OBJECT, oid);
+        bind(index, NULL_OBJECT, oid, BINARY);
     }
 
     public String toString(int index) {
@@ -174,7 +181,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
     public void checkAllParametersSet() throws SQLException {
         for (int i = 0; i < paramTypes.length; ++i)
         {
-            if (direction[i] != OUT && paramValues[i] == null)
+            if (direction(i) != OUT && paramValues[i] == null)
                 throw new PSQLException(GT.tr("No value specified for parameter {0}.", new Integer(i + 1)), PSQLState.INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE);
         }
     }
@@ -183,7 +190,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
     {
         for (int i=0; i<paramTypes.length; ++i)
         {
-            if (direction[i] == OUT)
+            if (direction(i) == OUT)
             {
                 paramTypes[i] = Oid.VOID;
                 paramValues[i] = "null";
@@ -240,8 +247,11 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
     }
 
     boolean isBinary(int index) {
-        // Currently, only StreamWrapper uses the binary parameter form.
-        return (paramValues[index-1] instanceof StreamWrapper);
+        return (flags[index-1] & BINARY) != 0;
+    }
+
+    private int direction(int index) {
+    	return flags[index] & INOUT;
     }
 
     int getV3Length(int index) {
@@ -302,7 +312,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
         SimpleParameterList newCopy = new SimpleParameterList(paramValues.length, protoConnection);
         System.arraycopy(paramValues, 0, newCopy.paramValues, 0, paramValues.length);
         System.arraycopy(paramTypes, 0, newCopy.paramTypes, 0, paramTypes.length);
-        System.arraycopy(direction, 0, newCopy.direction, 0, direction.length);
+        System.arraycopy(flags, 0, newCopy.flags, 0, flags.length);
         return newCopy;
     }
 
@@ -310,7 +320,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
         Arrays.fill(paramValues, null);
         Arrays.fill(paramTypes, 0);
         Arrays.fill(encoded, null);
-        Arrays.fill(direction, 0);
+        Arrays.fill(flags, 0);
     }
     public SimpleParameterList[] getSubparams() {
         return null;
@@ -318,7 +328,7 @@ class SimpleParameterList implements V3P
 
     private final Object[] paramValues;
     private final int[] paramTypes;
-    private final int[] direction;
+    private final int[] flags;
     private final byte[][] encoded;
     private final ProtocolConnectionImpl protoConnection;
     
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/ds/common/BaseDataSource.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/ds/common/BaseDataSource.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/ds/common/BaseDataSource.java
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ public abstract class BaseDataSource imp
     private int portNumber = 0;
     private int prepareThreshold = 5;
     private int unknownLength = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+    private boolean binaryTransfer = true;
     private int loginTimeout = 0; // in seconds
     private int socketTimeout = 0; // in seconds
     private boolean ssl = false;
@@ -388,6 +389,28 @@ public abstract class BaseDataSource imp
     {
         return tcpKeepAlive;
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Sets protocol transfer mode.
+     * See {@link org.postgresql.PGConnection#setBinaryTransfer(boolean)} for details.
+     *
+     * @param enabled True if the binary transfer mode is used for supported field types,
+     * false if text based transfer is used.
+     */
+    public void setBinaryTransfer(boolean enabled)
+    {
+        this.binaryTransfer = enabled;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the protocol transfer mode.
+     *
+     * @see #setBinaryTransfer(boolean)
+     */
+    public boolean getBinaryTransfer()
+    {
+        return binaryTransfer;
+    }
 
     /**
      * Generates a DriverManager URL from the other properties supplied.
@@ -423,6 +446,9 @@ public abstract class BaseDataSource imp
             sb.append("&ApplicationName=");
             sb.append(applicationName);
         }
+        if (binaryTransfer) {
+        	sb.append("&binaryTransfer=true");
+        }
 
         return sb.toString();
     }
@@ -457,6 +483,7 @@ public abstract class BaseDataSource imp
         
         ref.add(new StringRefAddr("prepareThreshold", Integer.toString(prepareThreshold)));
         ref.add(new StringRefAddr("unknownLength", Integer.toString(unknownLength)));
+        ref.add(new StringRefAddr("binaryTransfer", Boolean.toString(binaryTransfer)));
         ref.add(new StringRefAddr("loginTimeout", Integer.toString(loginTimeout)));
         ref.add(new StringRefAddr("socketTimeout", Integer.toString(socketTimeout)));
 
@@ -494,6 +521,7 @@ public abstract class BaseDataSource imp
         out.writeInt(logLevel);
         out.writeInt(protocolVersion);
         out.writeObject(applicationName);
+        out.writeBoolean(binaryTransfer);
     }
 
     protected void readBaseObject(ObjectInputStream in) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException
@@ -514,6 +542,7 @@ public abstract class BaseDataSource imp
         logLevel = in.readInt();
         protocolVersion = in.readInt();
         applicationName = (String)in.readObject();
+        binaryTransfer = in.readBoolean();
     }
 
     public void initializeFrom(BaseDataSource source) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/ds/common/PGObjectFactory.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/ds/common/PGObjectFactory.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/ds/common/PGObjectFactory.java
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ public class PGObjectFactory implements
         if (prepareThreshold != null)
             ds.setPrepareThreshold(Integer.parseInt(prepareThreshold));
 
+        String binaryTransfer = getProperty(ref, "binaryTransfer");
+        if (binaryTransfer != null)
+            ds.setBinaryTransfer(Boolean.parseBoolean(binaryTransfer));
+
         return ds;
     }
 
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2Connection.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2Connection.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2Connection.java
@@ -74,6 +74,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Conne
     // Current warnings; there might be more on protoConnection too.
     public SQLWarning firstWarning = null;
 
+    /** BitSet of oids that use binary transfer when sending to server. */
+    private BitSet useBinarySendForOids;
+    /** BitSet of oids that use binary transfer when receiving from server. */
+    private BitSet useBinaryReceiveForOids;
+
     public abstract DatabaseMetaData getMetaData() throws SQLException;
 
     //
@@ -116,6 +121,14 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Conne
         catch (Exception e)
         {
         }
+        boolean binaryTransfer = true;
+        try
+        {
+            binaryTransfer = Boolean.valueOf(info.getProperty("binaryTransfer", "true")).booleanValue();
+        }
+        catch (Exception e)
+        {
+        }
 
         //Print out the driver version number
         if (logger.logInfo())
@@ -126,6 +139,20 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Conne
         this.dbVersionNumber = protoConnection.getServerVersion();
         this.compatible = info.getProperty("compatible", Driver.MAJORVERSION + "." + Driver.MINORVERSION);
 
+        // Formats that currently have binary protocol support
+        BitSet binaryOids = new BitSet();
+        if (binaryTransfer && protoConnection.getProtocolVersion() >= 3) {
+            binaryOids.set(Oid.BYTEA);
+        }        
+
+        // split for receive and send for better control
+        useBinarySendForOids = new BitSet();
+        useBinarySendForOids.or(binaryOids);
+        useBinaryReceiveForOids = new BitSet();
+        useBinaryReceiveForOids.or(binaryOids);        
+
+        protoConnection.setBinaryReceiveOids(useBinaryReceiveForOids);
+
         if (logger.logDebug())
         {
             logger.debug("    compatible = " + compatible);
@@ -1111,4 +1138,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Conne
             copyManager = new CopyManager(this);
         return copyManager;
     }
+
+    public boolean binaryTransferSend(int oid) {
+        return useBinarySendForOids.get(oid);
+    }
 }
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2ResultSet.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2ResultSet.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2ResultSet.java
@@ -1693,7 +1693,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Resul
                 case Types.BINARY:
                 case Types.LONGVARBINARY:
                 case Types.VARBINARY:
-                    if (fields[columnIndex].getFormat() == Field.BINARY_FORMAT) {
+                    if (isBinary(columnIndex + 1)) {
                         rowBuffer[columnIndex] = (byte[]) valueObject;
                     } else {
                         try {
@@ -1852,6 +1852,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Resul
         checkResultSet( columnIndex );
         if (wasNullFlag)
             return null;
+        
+        // convert binary fields to their text format
+        if (isBinary(columnIndex)) {
+            Object obj = internalGetObject(columnIndex, fields[columnIndex - 1]);
+            if (obj == null) {
+                return null;
+            }
+            return trimString(columnIndex, obj.toString());
+        }
 
         Encoding encoding = connection.getEncoding();
         try
@@ -2238,7 +2247,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Resul
         if (wasNullFlag)
             return null;
 
-        if (fields[columnIndex - 1].getFormat() == Field.BINARY_FORMAT)
+        if (isBinary(columnIndex))
         {
             //If the data is already binary then just return it
             return this_row[columnIndex - 1];
@@ -2678,6 +2687,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Resul
         wasNullFlag = (this_row[column - 1] == null);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true if the value of the given column is in binary format.
+     * 
+     * @param column The column to check. Range starts from 1.
+     * @return True if the column is in binary format.
+     */
+    protected boolean isBinary(int column) {
+        return fields[column - 1].getFormat() == Field.BINARY_FORMAT;
+    }
+
     //----------------- Formatting Methods -------------------
 
     public static boolean toBoolean(String s)
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2Statement.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2Statement.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/jdbc2/AbstractJdbc2Statement.java
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ import org.postgresql.util.GT;
  */
 public abstract class AbstractJdbc2Statement implements BaseStatement
 {
+    // only for testing purposes. even single shot statements will use binary transfers
+    public static final boolean ForceBinaryTransfers = Boolean.getBoolean("org.postgresql.forcebinary");
+
     protected ArrayList batchStatements = null;
     protected ArrayList batchParameters = null;
     protected final int resultsettype;   // the resultset type to return (ResultSet.TYPE_xxx)
@@ -251,6 +254,26 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2State
             throw new PSQLException(GT.tr("Can''t use query methods that take a query string on a PreparedStatement."),
                                     PSQLState.WRONG_OBJECT_TYPE);
 
+        if (ForceBinaryTransfers) {
+        	clearWarnings();
+        	PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(p_sql, resultsettype, concurrency, getResultSetHoldability());
+        	ps.setMaxFieldSize(getMaxFieldSize());
+        	ps.setFetchSize(getFetchSize());
+        	ps.setFetchDirection(getFetchDirection());
+        	ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();
+
+                // Close any existing resultsets associated with this statement.
+                while (firstUnclosedResult != null)
+                {
+                   if (firstUnclosedResult.getResultSet() != null)
+                      firstUnclosedResult.getResultSet().close();
+                   firstUnclosedResult = firstUnclosedResult.getNext();
+                }
+
+                result = firstUnclosedResult = new ResultWrapper(rs);
+        	return rs;
+        }
+
         if (!executeWithFlags(p_sql, 0))
             throw new PSQLException(GT.tr("No results were returned by the query."), PSQLState.NO_DATA);
 
@@ -506,7 +529,17 @@ public abstract class AbstractJdbc2State
 
         if (connection.getAutoCommit())
             flags |= QueryExecutor.QUERY_SUPPRESS_BEGIN;
-
+        
+        // updateable result sets do not yet support binary updates
+        if (concurrency != ResultSet.CONCUR_READ_ONLY)
+            flags |= QueryExecutor.QUERY_NO_BINARY_TRANSFER;
+
+        if (ForceBinaryTransfers) {
+        	int flags2 = flags | QueryExecutor.QUERY_DESCRIBE_ONLY;
+        	StatementResultHandler handler2 = new StatementResultHandler();
+        	connection.getQueryExecutor().execute(queryToExecute, queryParameters, handler2, 0, 0, flags2);
+        }
+        
         StatementResultHandler handler = new StatementResultHandler();
         result = null;
         connection.getQueryExecutor().execute(queryToExecute,
Index: pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/test/TestUtil.java
===================================================================
--- pgjdbc.tmp8.orig/org/postgresql/test/TestUtil.java
+++ pgjdbc.tmp8/org/postgresql/test/TestUtil.java
@@ -29,13 +29,19 @@ public class TestUtil
             protocolVersion = "&protocolVersion=" + getProtocolVersion();
         }
 
+        String binaryTransfer = "";
+        if (getBinaryTransfer() != null && !getBinaryTransfer().equals("")) {
+            binaryTransfer = "&binaryTransfer=" + getBinaryTransfer();
+        }
+
         return "jdbc:postgresql://"
                                 + getServer() + ":" 
                                 + getPort() + "/" 
                                 + getDatabase() 
                                 + "?prepareThreshold=" + getPrepareThreshold()
                                 + "&loglevel=" + getLogLevel()
-                                + protocolVersion;
+                                + protocolVersion
+                                + binaryTransfer;
     }
 
     /*
@@ -99,6 +105,14 @@ public class TestUtil
         return Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("loglevel"));
     }
 
+    /*
+     * Returns the binary transfer mode to use
+     */
+    public static String getBinaryTransfer()
+    {
+        return System.getProperty("binaryTransfer");
+    }
+
     private static boolean initialized = false;
     public static void initDriver() throws Exception
     {