Posted by David Portas on 02/01/06 11:36

anasttin@excite.com wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I need to set up a generic table in Oracle that allows users to enter
> data that can later be retrieved in reports.
>
> I was thinking of a 3 column table in this structure:
>
> DATE,ITEM,VALUE
>
> figuring that you can store anything in this way because ITEM can be
> anything and you can have multiple instances of a particular value by
> having a new date.
>
> Does that seem reasonable?
>

No. It's a classic design error that defeats most of the reasons why we
use a DBMS at all.

http://tonyandrews.blogspot.com/2004/10/otlt-and-eav-two-big-design-mistakes.html

Also, this is a Microsoft SQL Server group. You'll most probably get
more help in an Oracle-specific group.

--
David Portas, SQL Server MVP

Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.

SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
--

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