What is the best way to store multiple data type into database
I am designing a database using MSSQL server 2005 to store log values from different devices.
The datatype of the values can be boolean, int-32 or 64 bit-double


There will be a lookup table called channels:
        
ID(PK)      | int32

device_name | varchar(32)  

There will be a table called 'values' to store the value. So boolean and int-32, double values  will be casted to DECIMAL datatype. 

ID(foreign key to ID@channels)  | int32

logtime                         | DATETIME

value                           | DECIMAL


The reason I do that is the end user can select data using a simple select statement on one table, such as 
'select logtime,value from values where ID = 1' without knowing the datatype of the channel.

But this is waste of memory, since now I stored int32 and boolean to Decimal. I am new to database programming, I wonder if anyone know a better way to do this?










What is the best way to store multiple data type into database
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I am designing a database using MSSQL server 2005 to store log values from different devices.
The datatype of the values can be boolean, int-32 or 64 bit-double


There will be a lookup table called channels:
        
ID(PK)      | int32

device_name | varchar(32)  

There will be a table called 'values' to store the value. So boolean and int-32, double values  will be casted to DECIMAL datatype. 

ID(foreign key to ID@channels)  | int32

logtime                         | DATETIME

value                           | DECIMAL


The reason I do that is the end user can select data using a simple select statement on one table, such as 
'select logtime,value from values where ID = 1' without knowing the datatype of the channel.

But this is waste of memory, since now I stored int32 and boolean to Decimal. I am new to database programming, I wonder if anyone know a better way to do this?









