Can a foreign key reference another foreign key

Question

Is it possible to have a foreign key that references another foreign key in a different table, or can it only reference primary and unique keys?

Answer 1

A foreign key can reference any field defined as unique. If that unique field is itself defined as a foreign key, it makes no difference. A foreign key is just to enforce referential integrity. Making a field a foreign key doesn't change the field itself in any way. If it is a unique field, it can also be the target of another FK.

For example:

create table Table1(
     PK int identity primary key,
     ...
);
create table Table2( -- 1-1 relationship with Table1
     PKFK int primary key,
     ...,
     constraint FK_Table2_1 foreign key( PKFK ) references Table1( PK )
);
create table Table3( -- relates to Table2
    PKFKFK int primary key,
    ...,
     constraint FK_Table3_2 foreign key( PKFKFK ) references Table2( PKFK )
);

I know of no DBMS where this is not the case. And I agree with Horse, there is nothing wrong with the practice.