Term : Database id value pair

Question

I am almost certain there is a term for the type of table I am looking at, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is.

I have a collection of tables that are simply

ID | VALUE | ACTIVE

These tables are for normalization and maintainability purposes, those values are stored in only one place that way. I know there is a term for this type of table and was hoping someone could remind me what it is.

On reading the initial answers I have a feeling I wasn't clear. Each of the items in question is stored in a different table. Along these lines

[Region]
ID     | VALUE    | ACTIVE
1      | EAST     | true
2      | WEST     | false

[ProductCategory]
ID     | VALUE    | ACTIVE
1      | Staplers | true
2      | Pens     | false
3      | Markers  | true

These are not all being condensed into on giant denormalized table that is storing values for all types.

Answer 1

You meant to say denormalization and maintainability purposes.

Two terms come to mind:

• attribute value pair
• entity attribute value model

Answer 2

A lot of people will call that a key value table. Also take a look at Associative array

Answer 3

I believe it is known as Entity-Attribute-Value (EAV) model. It is highly abstract in structure; metadata driven. Ideal for complex, heterogeneous data especially in areas of rapidly advancing knowledge. more info @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity-attribute-value_model