On 8/19/2004 at 11:04 PM Chris Meelhuysen wrote:

> Where/how do most people store global application settings in a
> database? I'm referring to things like Feature X enabled, Use 24 clock,
> Language = English, database version, etc. I have inherited an
> application that has a table that stores this information with about a
> hundred columns and there is only ever one row in this table. This does
> not sound normalized to me.
>
> I have seen reference to people who have made a table with two columns
> and do a key / value approach always storing as text and casting back to
> what they need.
>
> I would prefer to save these settings in the database as opposed to a
> config file somwhere else; so that everything that makes this instance
> of my application unique is in one place.
>
> What do most people do?
> --

I have used both approaches. If the number of items is small (3 or 4) and I'm pretty sure there aren't going to be lots of additions, I usually have used the single record method. When I wasn't sure, I usually have used the key/value method. Not that I've had a lot of experience: I've only created perhaps a dozen different databases in the past year of working with Firebird.

Dan.