The sample application uses this design approach, though with the more
restricted set of datatypes found in the Datatype Type (DTTP_DTPTYPE_M)
table. This may not be an adequate approach for many rules engines.
Besides data entry on the Edit Column Information screen, there are a couple of
other considerations needed to complete the design for adding columns to database
tables:
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NULL versus NOT NULL: Having user-defined columns as NULL makes
the application more robust. In particular, SQL commands cannot fail
because no value was provided for the user-defined column. This does not
mean that the designer gives up the capacity to specify a column as being
required to have a value. This can be stored as a separate item of metadata
if it is needed. Ho