TOP

A TOP clause in a SELECT statement specifies the number of records to return, starting with the first record in the table.

Syntax

SELECT TOP <number> <column_name>
FROM <table>

Remarks

• TOP can improve performance by limiting the number of records returned, especially when very large tables are involved.
• The number argument is an integer representing how many rows to return.
• Use TOP with the ORDER BY clause to make sure your specified number of rows is in a defined order.

Example

PROCEDURE LookupProduct(OUT result CURSOR(ProductDescription VARCHAR(255)))
    BEGIN
        OPEN result FOR SELECT 
                TOP 5 products.ProductDescription
            FROM /shared/examples/ds_inventory/tutorial/products products;
    END