Database default value problem

Hello.

I am running into an issue I would like to know if there is a solution
for. I am running Ruby version 1.8.6 and Rails 1.2.3. My database is
Oracle (10g) and I have one field defined as:

MY_FIELD NUMBER(1,0) DEFAULT ‘2’

When a record is created in the database the value that invariable
gets posted to the table is 0 (zero) instead of 2. However, if I
change the field to:

MY_FIELD NUMBER(2,0) DEFAULT ‘2’, the default value of 2 is correctly
posted.

I have the feeling that Ruby and/or Rails are considering the
NUMBER(1,0) field as a true/false container and anything that is not a
1 (true) will be converted to a 0 (false), including the default
value.

Any ideas why this is happening and/or how to solve it short or
modifying the column’s length?

Thanks in advance.

Pepe