[brightball]

One of the perks of using columns is that you can setup multiple columns with different dictionaries and specify which one you're searching against.

I'm not sure how easy it would be to ensure that the index would get picked up if searching on a weighted field with multiple columns specified or if it would require that the program know in advance what those columns were. Would the order matter for the index to be used?

Additionally, a column can also easily included relevant search data from related records in other tables or even datasources if desired.

[alexpeattie]

There's nothing stopping you indexing multiple columns with different dictionaries either :). And indexing works beautifully with multiple weighted columns.

The related records point is true though - indexes don't help if you're trying to implement multi-table search. Although then I'd argue a materialized view (refreshed with triggers) might be better than putting more columns into one of the data tables.

[brightball]

I will have to tinker with that then...