Re: SELECTing first x results (a FAQ?)

Taking from Joe Celko's book "SQL FOR SMARTIES", you can try something like this (assuming column x is your 'ranking' column): Select t1.a, t1.b, t1.c, t1.d, t1.x, count(*) from mytable t1, mytable t2 where t1.x <= t2.x group by t1.x having count(*) <=50; Granted, this will not perform the greatest, but it is a 'SQL-only' solution D. Sanderson wrote: > Despite the fact that this is probably a common question, all the usual > sources (Informix manuals, Informix and SQL FAQs, DejaNews) came up empty. > (I apologize ahead of time, particularly because I'm pretty sure I *did* > see this in a manual somewhere, but I just can't find it now.) > > I want an SELECT statement that returns the first x results (x being a > constant, say, 50) matching certain criteria. (I want an exact number, so > I can't use the 'fraction of' formula in the FAQ.) > > Our client uses a port (just one) to get to the database, and I don't want > a broad user-specified search to tie up the port getting hundreds of > results. > > Many thanks for any assistance you can provide! > > _____________________________________________________________________ > Dan Sanderson dsanders@u.washington.edu > University of Washington http://weber.u.washington.edu/~dsanders