Re: Inconsistent error message for varchar(n)

Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us> writes:

> Tracking it a bit further, the actual typmod limit is set by this:
>
> /*
> * MaxAttrSize is a somewhat arbitrary upper limit on the declared size of
> * data fields of char(n) and similar types. It need not have anything
> * directly to do with the *actual* upper limit of varlena values, which
> * is currently 1Gb (see TOAST structures in postgres.h). I've set it
> * at 10Mb which seems like a reasonable number --- tgl 8/6/00.
> */
> #define MaxAttrSize (10 * 1024 * 1024)
>
> So maybe that's something we *should* document, though we'd have to
> explain that the limit on text and unconstrained varchar is different.
>
> regards, tom lane
>
> (From the writing style, I suspect the "tgl" here is me not Tom Lockhart.
> I'm too lazy to dig in the git history to confirm it though.)

I was bored, and found this:

commit 022417740094620880488dd9b04fbb96ff11694b
Author: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
Date: 2000-08-07 20:16:13 +0000

TOAST mop-up work: update comments for tuple-size-related symbols such
as MaxHeapAttributeNumber. Increase MaxAttrSize to something more
reasonable (given what it's used for, namely checking char(n) declarations,
I didn't make it the full 1G that it could theoretically be --- 10Mb
seemed a more reasonable number). Improve calculation of MaxTupleSize.

which added the above comment and changed MaxAttrSize:

-#define MaxAttrSize (MaxTupleSize - MAXALIGN(sizeof(HeapTupleHeaderData)))
+#define MaxAttrSize (10 * 1024 * 1024)

- ilmari