What is the data type 'name' in PostgreSQL

Question

I can not find any references to the data type 'name' in the postgres documentation but I am seeing it as a data type on the pgagent.pga_jobstep table for the column 'jstdbname'. The udt_name is also 'name'. Selecting the rows from that table makes them appear as if they are strings.

It is not listed here: Postgres data types

Answer 1

Name is a 63 byte (varchar) type used for storing system identifiers.

Using psql you can get type information using \dT or \dT+

So for the name type:

# \dT name
 List of data types
 Schema | Name | Description 
------------+------+---------------------------------------------
 pg_catalog | name | 63-byte type for storing system identifiers
(1 row)

or

# \dT+ name
 List of data types
 Schema | Name | Internal name | Size | Elements | Owner | Access privileges | Description 
------------+------+---------------+------+----------+----------+-------------------+---------------------------------------------
 pg_catalog | name | name | 64 | | postgres | | 63-byte type for storing system identifiers
(1 row)

• Rafs: I read that this is not intended for general use, like in user-defined routines. Is it preferred over REGCLASS? and what is the equivalent object identifier data type for columns? REGTYPE?

Answer 2

Table 8.5. Special Character Types
Name Storage Size Description
"char" 1 byte single-byte internal type
name 64 bytes internal type for object names

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-character.html