Row.GetString(int Ordinal) throws exception when columnType can not be directly cast to string.

[robertbeuligmann]

Due to the way MySqlConnector is casting values from GetValue(int) it throws

"Unable to cast object of type 'System.Int64' to type 'System.String'."

when trying to convert a LongLong columnType when calling MySqlConnector.Core.Row.GetString()

Mysql.Data will attempt to convert any row to a string when calling Mysql.Data.DataReader.GetString(int) by calling the final values .ToString() method.

[bgrainger]

Yes, currently MySqlConnector only allows GetString for TEXT etc. columns. A workaround is to call GetValue(int).ToString() to get a (culture-sensitive) rendering.

[bgrainger]

I added numeric/string conversion tests here: mysql-net/AdoNetApiTest@3d8dbc6

While MySql.Data does perform implicit conversions to string for numeric types, SqlClient and npgsql do not.

I've decided to deliberately use the more strict behaviour because implicit conversions to string are a notorious source of locale-dependent bugs, and because GetValue(x).ToString() is an available workaround.

[bgrainger]

MySql.Data 8.3.0 now deprecates the implicit conversion to string for non-textual columns:

Calling the MySqlDataReader.GetString() method now throws an InvalidCastException exception if the associated column is not a string type.

The OldGetStringBehavior connection option was added to allow (by setting it to true) restoring previous behavior by logging a deprecation warning instead of throwing the exception. This option defaults to false.

This option will be removed in the near future, potentially in version 9.0.0.