>I was just in a meeting where the database designers are adding flexibility by doing the following:
>Any new fields that is added to a column, will go into the last field of a table that is an XML string. This String will allow for multiple fields to be added dynamically.
>Do you think this is a good idea?
>What are the drawbacks?? Can you search on this field in the string?

By column, do you mean table?

If this regards to gathering data from various sources/types into one single field, than you will end up with less flexibility for your tags, manipulations, etc. But, again, maybe you have some good advantages for your requirements to do it like that.