diff --git a/pvDataApp/misc/parseToPOD.cpp b/pvDataApp/misc/parseToPOD.cpp
index e947c69..9ec4178 100644
--- a/pvDataApp/misc/parseToPOD.cpp
+++ b/pvDataApp/misc/parseToPOD.cpp
@@ -420,6 +420,16 @@ void handleParseError(int err)
 
 namespace epics { namespace pvData { namespace detail {
 
+void parseToPOD(const std::string & in, boolean *out)
+{
+    if(epicsStrCaseCmp(in.c_str(),"true")==0)
+        *out = 1;
+    else if(epicsStrCaseCmp(in.c_str(),"false")==0)
+        *out = 0;
+    else
+        throw std::runtime_error("parseToPOD: String no match true/false");
+}
+
 #define INTFN(T, S) \
 void parseToPOD(const std::string& in, T *out) { \
     epics ## S temp; \
@@ -428,9 +438,8 @@ void parseToPOD(const std::string& in, T *out) { \
     else      *out = temp; \
 }
 
-INTFN(char, Int8);
-INTFN(int8_t, Int8);
-INTFN(uint8_t, UInt8);
+INTFN(int8, Int8);
+INTFN(uint8, UInt8);
 INTFN(int16_t, Int16);
 INTFN(uint16_t, UInt16);
 INTFN(int32_t, Int32);
diff --git a/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.cpp b/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.cpp
index 6b5ba2a..9b6e190 100644
--- a/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.cpp
+++ b/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ typedef void (*convertfn)(size_t, void*, const void*);
 static convertfn converters[pvString+1][pvString+1] =
 {
     // to pvBoolean
-    { &noconvert,
+    { &copyV<epics::pvData::boolean>,
       &noconvert,
       &noconvert,
       &noconvert,
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ static convertfn converters[pvString+1][pvString+1] =
       &noconvert,
       &noconvert,
       &noconvert,
-      &noconvert
+      &castVTyped<epics::pvData::boolean, String>,
     },
     // to pvByte
     {&noconvert,
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ static convertfn converters[pvString+1][pvString+1] =
      &castVTyped<double, String>,
     },
     // to pvString
-    {&noconvert,
+    {&castVTyped<String, epics::pvData::boolean>,
      &castVTyped<String, int8_t>,
      &castVTyped<String, int16_t>,
      &castVTyped<String, int32_t>,
diff --git a/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.h b/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.h
index 0717d0c..6719dcb 100644
--- a/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.h
+++ b/pvDataApp/misc/typeCast.h
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ typedef std::string String;
 namespace detail {
     // parseToPOD wraps the epicsParse*() functions in one name
     // and throws exceptions
-    void parseToPOD(const std::string&, char *out);
-    void parseToPOD(const std::string&, int8_t *out);
-    void parseToPOD(const std::string&, uint8_t *out);
+    void parseToPOD(const std::string&, boolean *out);
+    void parseToPOD(const std::string&, int8 *out);
+    void parseToPOD(const std::string&, uint8 *out);
     void parseToPOD(const std::string&, int16_t *out);
     void parseToPOD(const std::string&, uint16_t *out);
     void parseToPOD(const std::string&, int32_t *out);
@@ -43,6 +43,27 @@ namespace detail {
     template<>
     struct cast_arg<String> { typedef const String& arg; };
 
+    // Handle mangling of type/value when printing
+    template<typename T>
+    struct print_convolute {
+        static FORCE_INLINE T op(const T& i) { return i; }
+    };
+    // trick std::ostream into treating char's as numbers
+    // by promoting char to int
+    template<>
+    struct print_convolute<int8> {
+        static FORCE_INLINE signed int op(int8 i) { return i; }
+    };
+    template<>
+    struct print_convolute<uint8> {
+        static FORCE_INLINE unsigned int op(uint8 i) { return i; }
+    };
+    // Turn boolean into a string
+    template<>
+    struct print_convolute<boolean> {
+        static FORCE_INLINE String op(boolean i) { return i ? "true" : "false"; }
+    };
+
     // trick std::ostream into treating char's as numbers
     // by promoting char to int
     template<typename T>
@@ -75,9 +96,8 @@ namespace detail {
     template<typename FROM>
     struct cast_helper<String, FROM, typename meta::not_same_type<String,FROM>::type> {
         static String op(FROM from) {
-            typedef typename print_cast<FROM>::type ptype;
             std::ostringstream strm;
-            strm << (ptype)from;
+            strm << print_convolute<FROM>::op(from);
             if(strm.fail())
                 throw std::runtime_error("Cast to string failed");
             return strm.str();
diff --git a/testApp/misc/testTypeCast.cpp b/testApp/misc/testTypeCast.cpp
index dc74d60..2fd5cf3 100644
--- a/testApp/misc/testTypeCast.cpp
+++ b/testApp/misc/testTypeCast.cpp
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ namespace {
 
 MAIN(testTypeCast)
 {
-    testPlan(110);
+    testPlan(122);
 
 try {
 
@@ -313,7 +313,6 @@ try {
     TEST2(String, "1", int8_t, 1);
     TEST2(String, "-1", int8_t, -1);
     TEST2(String, "1", uint8_t, 1);
-    TEST2(String, "-1", char, -1);
 
     TEST2(String, "127", int32_t, std::numeric_limits<int8_t>::max());
     TEST2(String, "-128", int32_t, std::numeric_limits<int8_t>::min());
@@ -337,6 +336,18 @@ try {
 
     TEST(double, 1.1e100, String, "1.1E+100");
 
+    // any non-zero value is true
+    TEST(String, "true", epics::pvData::boolean, 100);
+
+    TEST2(String, "true", epics::pvData::boolean, 1);
+    TEST2(String, "false", epics::pvData::boolean, 0);
+
+    // Case insensitive
+    TEST(epics::pvData::boolean, 1, String, "True");
+    TEST(epics::pvData::boolean, 0, String, "False");
+    TEST(epics::pvData::boolean, 1, String, "TRUE");
+    TEST(epics::pvData::boolean, 0, String, "FALSE");
+
     testDiag("String Parsing");
 
     TEST(int32_t, 15, String, "0xf");
@@ -372,9 +383,15 @@ try {
 
     FAIL(int8_t, String, "1000");
     FAIL(int8_t, String, "-1000");
-;
+
     FAIL(double, String, "1e+10000000");
 
+    FAIL(epics::pvData::boolean, String, "hello");
+    FAIL(epics::pvData::boolean, String, "1");
+    FAIL(epics::pvData::boolean, String, "0");
+    FAIL(epics::pvData::boolean, String, "T");
+    FAIL(epics::pvData::boolean, String, "F");
+
     testDiag("Floating point overflows");
 
     TEST(float, FLT_MAX, double, 1e300);