On Wed, 5 Dec 2001, Andy Marden wrote:
> The whole point is that someone should be able to pick up PostgreSQL
> and use it. All this rigmorole is not well documented. What is wrong
> with the equivalent of Oracle's to_char and to_number? It works and
> hasn't caused anyone, to my knowledge, sleepless nights. Sure it's
> great re the extra types and ability to cast via different routes, but
> don't scare people off at the first hurdle! This flexibility should be
> a bonus not a requirement.
AFAICS 7.1.3 and 7.2 both describe a to_number that converts text to
numeric although I haven't used them. But that's still different from
casting.