strange behavior, hoping for an explanation

Hi;

I have found recently that tables in certain contexts seem to have a
name pseudocolumn.  I was wondering if there is any documentation as
to what this is and what it signifies.

postgres=# CREATE table TEST2 (a text, b text);
CREATE TABLE
postgres=# INSERT INTO test2 values ('aaaa', 'bbbb');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# select t.name FROM test2 t;
    name
-------------
 (aaaa,bbbb)
(1 row)

However:


postgres=# select name FROM test2 t;
ERROR:  column "name" does not exist
LINE 1: select name FROM test2 t;

This isn't making any sense to me.  Are there certain circumstances
where a tuple is cast to something like varchar(63)?  Does this pose
pitfals for any columns named 'name' in other contexts?

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers