How I store Enumerations in the Database

One of the things I come across in databases now and then is a collection of single tables with a name like "MessageType". You have a look in them and it turns out to have 6 or so rows with no foreign key relationships. Every single time it turns out to be someone had the idea to store an Enumeration (Enum) type in the database. Not a bad idea as it turns out since you can add sort options, soft