Message-ID: <gh-postgresql-interfaces-psqlodbc-148@github.com>
From: "aseques (@aseques)" <noreply+aseques@github.com>
To: "postgresql-interfaces/psqlodbc" <noreply+postgresql-interfaces-psqlodbc@github.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:49:22 +0000
Subject: [postgresql-interfaces/psqlodbc] issue #148: Using text columns from sqlserver
List-Id: <gh-postgresql-interfaces-psqlodbc.github.com>
X-GitHub-Author-Id: 555542
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X-GitHub-Issue: 148
X-GitHub-Repo: postgresql-interfaces/psqlodbc
X-GitHub-State: open
X-GitHub-Type: issue
X-GitHub-Url: https://github.com/postgresql-interfaces/psqlodbc/issues/148
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Hi, I am using the ODBC 17.00.0004 to read data from a postgres 17 database from a SQLServer 2022. Everyting works as expected (after setting the search_path to the proper schema) and I can read the data using 

> SELECT * FROM PGDATABASE...issues

The problem is with one of the columns for issues called description that is the type text on the postgres side.


I get this error message

> Msg 7347, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
> OLE DB provider 'MSDASQL' for linked server 'PGDATABASE' returned data that does not match expected data length for column '[PGDATABASE]...[issues].description'. The (maximum) expected data length is 8000, while the returned data length is 12070.


#### Possible fix 1

The most promising solution seems to be to configure the Max LongVarChar value in the ODBC to a value greater than 12070. I tried setting it to 32000 but the message remains the same.
Some references [here](https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000008035?language=en_US)

#### Possible fix 2

Another solution that's partial would be to truncate the extra elements so the limit i always respected, as explained [here](https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/4854fc01d0c6cb%24fc0c0010%24f4240030%24%40Intuii.com)
```
SELECT 
field1,
field2, ...
CAST(description AS varchar(7900)) AS description,
...
 FROM PGDATABASE...issues
```

#### Questions 

So my question would be: 

- Is this attribute the one I have to modify (I already have marked the Text as LongVarChar)
- Is there anything to be done on the sqlserver side to reload the values for the odbc settings?

Thanks for your help