Error when comparing an integer to an empty string.

Hi!

I'm new on this list, my name is David Pradier, and i'm french.

I'm currently trying the new postgresql 7.3rc1, and i've noticed that if
i compared an integer to an empty string, i ran in an error.

Example :
=# select nom_comm from operation where id_operation = '';
ERROR: pg_atoi: zero-length string

\d operation gives :
id_operation | integer | not null default nextval('"operation_type_id_operation_seq"'::text)

Is this a bug or a feature of the new 7.3 version ?
Is there a purpose ?

Thanks for your help.

Best regards,
David.
--
dpradier(at)apartia(dot)fr