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Back to the Data Model.
This Wikipedia entry on the Entity Attribute Value Model makes an excellent introduction to the subject.
And here is a relevant LinkedIn discussion that presents the pros and cons of
Key-Value Pairs that started on April 12th. 2013, and is well worth a look.
And a worthwhile contribution from Tom Kyte
who is a highly-respected Oracle expert.
Here is an extract from a worthwhile document that you can download from
the SQL Topia Web Site.
Opinions About Standard EAV Data Model
The main characteristic of EAV schemas is that they have a “store everything, query nothing” property.
You can store whatever you like, because it's so generic.
Because it's so generic, you can't query it, because nothing really ever means something.
Roland Bouman 2009
EAV structures are like drugs; in small quantities and used in the proper circumstances,
they can be beneficial.
However, too much will kill you.
Thomas (Seven24) 2009
OTLT and EAV are “generic” approaches that are seductive to programmers, but are actually a
bad idea for most databases.
Resist the temptation!
Tony Andrews 2004
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© Database Answers Ltd. 2013
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