Dynamic SELECT TOP @var In SQL Server
declare @rows int = 10
select top (@rows) *
from Employees
order by 1 desc -- optional to get the last records using the first column of the table
In x0n's example, it should be:
SET ROWCOUNT @top
SELECT * from sometable
SET ROWCOUNT 0
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188774.aspx
The syntax "select top (@var) ..." only works in SQL SERVER 2005+. For SQL 2000, you can do:
set rowcount @top
select * from sometable
set rowcount 0
Hope this helps
Oisin.
(edited to replace @@rowcount with rowcount - thanks augustlights)
SELECT TOP (@count) * FROM SomeTable
This will only work with SQL 2005+