public function getTypeVal() {
        if (!$this->type)
            trigger_error(sprintf('Cannot build a column query for `%s`: no column type set',$this->name),E_USER_ERROR);
        if ($this->passThrough)
            $this->type_val = $this->type;
        else {
            $this->type_val = $this->findQuery($this->schema->dataTypes[strtoupper($this->type)]);
            if (!$this->type_val) {
                if (Schema::$strict) {
                    trigger_error(sprintf(self::TEXT_NoDataType, strtoupper($this->type),
                        $this->db->driver()),E_USER_ERROR);
                    return FALSE;
                } else {
                    // auto pass-through if not found
                    $this->type_val = $this->type;
                }
            }
        }
        return $this->type_val;
    }