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TOP Option

Introduction

The TOP option is used for limiting the output of a query result set. The TOP SQL Statement is often used with the SELECT statement. TOP can either specify the number of rows to return, or the precentage of rows to return. The ORDER BY clause can be used successfully with the TOP option. In other words, the ORDER BY will be completed before the rows are limited.

Using TOP with SELECT Statements

Syntax for returning n number of rows:

SELECT TOP n *
FROM table

Example for returning 10 rows:

SELECT TOP 10 *
FROM employees

Syntax for returning n percentage of rows:

SELECT TOP n PERCENT *
FROM table

Example for returning 20 percent of rows:

SELECT TOP 20 PERCENT *
FROM employees

Using TOP with SELECT Statements using ORDER BY clause

Example for returning top 10 highest paid employees:

SELECT TOP 10 *
FROM employees
ORDER BY Salary DESC





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