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Rock_query
Yak Posting Veteran
55 Posts |
 Posted - 2014-12-27 : 20:21:28
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I am using the AdventureWorks2012 database. I am testing the TOP clause. My understanding is that this should return the first nth number of rows, but the results are not consistent with this.I am testing this on the table Production.Product. The first 5 values in the ProductID column are: 1,2,3,4 and 316.However I do not get these results with the following code:SELECT TOP (5) ProductIDFROM Production.Product I am getting: 980, 365, 771, 404 and 977.How is SSMS getting these results? Regardless of any sorting, I thought that the TOP clause is always supposed to return the top nth number of rows that are showing? |
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bitsmed
Aged Yak Warrior
545 Posts |
Posted - 2014-12-28 : 07:17:16
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| If you don't specify a sort sequence (order by), the database engine is allowed to return the data in which ever way it sees fit |
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gbritton
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
2780 Posts |
Posted - 2014-12-28 : 10:15:30
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| "The first 5 values in the ProductID column are: 1,2,3,4 and 316."Why do you say that? By definition, a table is a set, which by definition has no ordering and so has no "first 5 values" |
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SELECT TOP 5 not working right