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Hi, I'm designing a database for a project and need to make it as versatile as possible as there may be many changes to the data structure stored in future. I've decided to use name/value pairs for storing parameters instead of extra columns. e.g.:<br />
<br />
Tables:<br />
Reports<br />
ReportDetails<br />
<br />
Columns:<br />
Reports.ID, Reports.Name, Reports.Desc etc<br />
ReportDetails.ID, ReportDetails.ReportID, ReportDetails.ParameterNam<wbr />e, ReportDetails.ParameterVal<wbr />ue<br />
<br />
This structure enables the storing of any new report type including its new parameters without changing the DB structure.<br />
<br />
Is there a downside to this approach?
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Hi, I'm designing a database for a project and need to make it as versatile as possible as there may be many changes to the data structure stored in future. I've decided to use name/value pairs for storing parameters instead of extra columns. e.g.:

Tables:
Reports
ReportDetails

Columns:
Reports.ID, Reports.Name, Reports.Desc etc
ReportDetails.ID, ReportDetails.ReportID, ReportDetails.ParameterName, ReportDetails.ParameterValue

This structure enables the storing of any new report type including its new parameters without changing the DB structure.

Is there a downside to this approach?

SQL Database Design Best Practice

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is a suite of relational database management system (RDBMS) products providing multi-user database access functionality.Component services include integration (SSIS), reporting (SSRS), analysis (SSAS), data quality, master data, T-SQL and performance tuning. Major improvements include the  Always On technologies and support for unstructured data types.