ISTM this is a bug, no?
(9.0devel, cvs 2010.03.04 01:30)
replicas=# select length( to_char(1, '0') );
length
--------
2
(1 row)
There seems to be an erroneously prefixed space:
replicas=# select '>' || to_char(1, repeat('0',8)) || '<';
?column?
-------------
> 00000001<
(1 row)
replicas=# select version();
version
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PostgreSQL 9.0devel-standby on x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC gcc (GCC) 4.4.3, 64-bit
(1 row)
Erik Rijkers