Re: Data Modeling Question
- From: Nigel Thomas <nigel_cl_thomas@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: oracle-l <oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 01:18:37 -0800 (PST)
Ah, the Entity Attribute Value anti-pattern rears its ugly head again (go to
the Downsides section). Don't designers know that the whole point of a
relational data model is that IT'S ALREADY GOT flexibility:
- you can add an attribute to an entity (alter table add column)
- you can add new entities (create table)
- all your programs will continue to work
and all the entities and attributes are even recorded in a data dictionary for
you.
Also see this Ask Tom from 2003 (still being updated I see). And a nice twist
at theOracleWTF. There are many more just a Google away.
One good thing about generic data models though - they've been keeping database
performance consultants in business for as long as I can remember!
Regards Nigel
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