postgres=#
postgres=# CREATE TABLE test2 (b varchar(5));
CREATE TABLE
postgres=#
postgres=# INSERT INTO test2 VALUES ('ok');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# INSERT INTO test2 VALUES ('good ');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# INSERT INTO test2 VALUES ('too long');
ERROR: value too long for type character varying(5)
postgres=#
postgres=# INSERT INTO test2 VALUES ('too long'::varchar(5)); -- explicit truncation
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# SELECT b, char_length(b) FROM test2;
b | char_length
-------+-------------
ok | 2
good | 5
too l | 5
(3 rows)
postgres=#
postgres=# drop table test2;
DROP TABLE
postgres=#
postgres=#