how to handle so much multiple value strings [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
Multiple values in lookup fields

i have a table has about 27 fields are just strings
and every one of them have multiple values
for example itemType Field have more than 10 possible values and the user may insert more

i made a tables called properties with those fields (Id, Key, Value) to store those values
but now i’m confused wither i should use just the (Id)s and reference them in the original table (i think it’s no good to put 27 relationships) or doing something else which i don’t know what is it exactly

any better ideas or is it ok to continue like this

thanks

To answer this question best we would need to a whole lot more specifics about what you are doing and what the kinds of value are going into each of the fields.

In general though since more values can be added to each set of possible values, a seperate table is advisable. Unless the fields have overlap in their possible values it would be better to have each set of possible values as a seperate table. In Oracle these could be Index Organized Tables.