Build a custom based view where rows are columns in view

Question

Bit of an odd request but here goes.
We have a system whereby we want to give users the ability to add their own fields against our tables. Because we do not want to create columns in each table we had the thought of creating a table that contains rows that will act as custom fields without the need to create columns/tables.
For example the 3 types of fields they can have are DATE, VARCHAR2, NUMBER. All three of these are stored in one table as VARCHAR2 with the application validating the data is in correct format and a link to the other tables Primary Key. The user gives the custom field a name i.e. column name and type on setup.
This all works fine in the application but what i need to do is build up a view of what is held in the table and create a new column for the view based on column name, value based on example_Data and have the correct column_type in view.
For example this is an example of our table with only 3 rows in. It can have many more of the three mentioned types.
SELECT * FROM
          SELECT 'LINK_TO_OTHER_TABLE' LINKPK,'DATEEXAMPLE'column_name,'01-01-11 12:00'example_Data,'DATE' column_type FROM DUAL
          UNION
          SELECT 'LINK_TO_OTHER_TABLE' LINKPK, 'VARCHAREXAMPLE'column_name,'This is my data'example_Data,'VARCHAR2' column_type FROM DUAL
          UNION         
          SELECT 'LINK_TO_OTHER_TABLE' LINKPK, 'NUMBEREXAMPLE'column_name,'1234'example_Data,'NUMBER'column_type FROM DUAL         
          )What i want is to create a VIEW based on this table structure above that will give me a view structure of:
LINKPK VARCHAR2,
DATE_EXAMPLE DATE,
VARCHAREXAMPLE VARCHAR2,
NUMBEREXAMPLEThen when i so a select i get 1 row of
'LINK_TO_OTHER_TABLE','01-01-11 12:00','VARCHAREXAMPLE',1234Hope ive made sense. Thanks in advance of any comments.

Answer 1

Oh dear, that is a little scary!
Our application (built in forms) has a massive heirarchical database structure and althought we are only likely to see approximately 1-10 rows of data in this table I see this may still have a bearing on the speed etc.
We were trying to make it easier to add custom fields to our front end application (built in forms) rather than the standard method of adding another column to the DB and adding the the form itself.
I thought with the minimal rows being inserted (and forms handling the link to the PK via relationship) it wouldnt impact too much on the rest of the system.
Thanks for your input