I'm trying to design a database to store information about an entity. This entity will pass through 5-6 stages. In every stage may happen some property modifications. It is necessary to have access to the state of the entity in every stage. Also each stage will have some additional properties unique for the current stage.
I'm wondering what would be the best way to design the tables. I was thinking to have a separate table for each stage (but the tables would have the same structure as the structure remains the same through all stages). Also for each stage table I would be able to create relations tables.
The only thing that is bugging me about this design is that I will have 5-6 tables with the same structure. On the other hand if I would put all the stages in one table and have a column which determinates the stage, then I don't see a way to create relations table per stage.
Any thougts ?