Check the archives. I think there was a long discussion on this topic not long ago.
Yechiel Adar Mehish ----- Original Message ----- To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 6:38 PM > 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). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Yechiel Adar 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).
