Hi,

I just installed a PHP/MySQL application that stores some user details/settings in one column like this -

a:4:{s:17:"signup_email_sent";i:1;s:6:"status";a:1:{i:3;i:1;}s:9:"is_active";i:1;s:9:"is_locked";s:0:"";}

I'm wondering if this is a good thing or not?

Any comments?

Thanks

Simon.

Definitley not normalized to say the least. It is best to insert those multiple values into separate columns...because if you don't, you'll have to rely on explode and/or preg_match functions in PHP to parse that string, which is intensive to both your web server and database server.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me

Eliot is right. I don't think you realise what you are letting yourself into. I tried doing this recently for a client, and although I managed to get it working, it took 20 times longer than doing it in their own seperate columns.

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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