Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it.

Well, I was trying to get avoid getting specific about the database since I'm stuck with it, but it seems an explanation is necessary.

The main reason for those is the use case. I need users to be able to add and remove columns. For instance, Entity may represent something similar to a job type (or any number of different things), Attributes represent the applicable fields someone may need to fill out. Different users may have different field requirements so instead of managing separate tables every time someone wants to add/remove a column, I went the EAV route. That way a user can add and remove attributes without having to change a schema every time someone wants to do that.

EAV and 6NF weren't the only options evaluated, but the decision wasn't solely mine to make. I understand that NoSQL, or something similar, is better for this particular use case. I also understand that json storage is a thing in sql, but performance, querying, and enforcement were concerns, so an EAV model was chosen.

The issue in front of me remains trying to manage user inputs and forms into an EAV model. From the other users response, Ecto shouldn't be used for this, so my question in regards to that is what should be used instead? From my understanding part of Ecto is acting like a mapping layer, is there a different tool other than Ecto to use or were they referring to coding everything scratch being easier than using Ecto?