Hi all. I am in the midst of designing an ERD for a usage system. The management would like to use name/value pairs to store the data since that would be the most flexible. While I agree that it would be the most flexible on the surface, I am concerned that it might not be a good idea. It is not clear at this point whether this data will be needed for an OLTP solution. The most pertinent use of this info at this point is for reporting.
Cons. 1. You have to select more records to get 1 'row' of data since a name/value record would only hold 1 piece of data. Queries to mine the data would be more complicated. 2. No meta-data. So, a zip_code could end up being alpha-numeric and 57 characters long. 3. Can't put on foreign keys. 4. Possible performance issues since more inserts have to be done to get a 'row' of data committed. Could you provide more cons (and pros) to using name/value pairs? Any good resources on the web I might look at? I've poked around out on the web, but didn't have much luck. Thanks. - Jeff -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Young, Jeff A. INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
