The TOP n clause specifies the first n rows of the query result that are to be retrieved.
5>
6> create table department(
7> dept_name char(20) not null,
8> emp_cnt int not null,
9> budget float,
10> date_month datetime);
11> GO
1>
2> insert into department values('Research', 5, 50000, '01.01.2002');
3> insert into department values('Research', 10, 70000, '01.02.2002');
4> insert into department values('Research', 5, 65000, '01.07.2002');
5> insert into department values('Accounting', 5, 10000, '01.07.2002');
6> insert into department values('Accounting', 10, 40000, '01.02.2002');
7> insert into department values('Accounting', 6, 30000, '01.01.2002');
8> insert into department values('Accounting', 6, 40000, '01.02.2003');
9> insert into department values('Marketing', 6, 10000, '01.01.2003');
10> insert into department values('Marketing', 10, 40000, '01.02.2003');
11> insert into department values('Marketing', 3, 30000, '01.07.2003');
12> insert into department values('Marketing', 5, 40000, '01.01.2003');
13> GO
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
(1 rows affected)
1>
2> SELECT TOP 8 dept_name, budget
3> FROM department
4> ORDER BY budget DESC
5> GO
dept_name budget
-------------------- ------------------------
Research 70000
Research 65000
Research 50000
Accounting 40000
Marketing 40000
Accounting 40000
Marketing 40000
Accounting 30000
(8 rows affected)
1>
2> drop table department;
3> GO
1>
2>