[Feature] Ensure data type changes on contracted models that wouldn't cause breakage are not classed as breaking changes

[liamfmck95]

Is this your first time submitting a feature request?

• I have read the expectations for open source contributors
• I have searched the existing issues, and I could not find an existing issue for this feature
• I am requesting a straightforward extension of existing dbt functionality, rather than a Big Idea better suited to a discussion

Describe the feature

Currently any change to a column's data type in a contracted model is treated as a breaking change, but a casing change such as decimal(6,5) to DECIMAL(6,5) that would not actually break the model, testing or anything downstream of it, should not be classed as a breaking change.

Other considerations may be when spaces are added/removed (such as after the comma in the above example), or other examples whereby the data type has not actually changed and therefore contract has not been 'broken'.

Describe alternatives you've considered

The only current alternative I can think of is to create a new version of the model and then deprecate the old version, but this seems like it should be unnecessary for the changes described above.

Who will this benefit?

Anybody making changes to contract enforced models, particularly those whose projects have a low maturity and are therefore making lots of quick tweaks which would be hindered by continuous version adds.

Are you interested in contributing this feature?

No response

Anything else?

No response