MariaDB Essentials

Chapter 6. Dynamic Columns

In this chapter, we will examine the problem of storing non-homogeneous data in the same table. The first part will discuss the approaches traditionally used in relational databases. The following part will examine a MariaDB feature which solves the problem in a totally different way: dynamic columns.

We will discuss the following topics in this chapter:

• The problem of storing non-homogeneous data
• Dynamic columns functions
• Nested dynamic columns
• Indexing dynamic columns

The problem: storing non-homogeneous data

In our database, we have a table called product. We defined it such that it only contains very generic attributes, like the product's id, name, price, the available quantity, and a description. But we will also need ...