select @var = top 1 var from table
while @var is not null
begin
    insert into temp_table select top 5 id, address from table2
    delete from table where var = @var
    select @var = top 1 var from table
end

quote:

---

Originally posted by crazyjoe

The query DOES have a purpose, which you can glean if you look closely. It is looking to take only the top 5 id/address combinations from table2 and move them to temp_table, and it wants to do this once for each id contained in the first table.

---

-- Stage the data for faster processing
DECLARE	@Stage TABLE (acc_id INT, add_id INT)

INSERT		@Stage
		(
			acc_id,
			add_id
		)
SELECT		src.acc_id,
		src.add_id
FROM		rj_wrk_ncoa_mar src (NOLOCK)
INNER JOIN	(
			SELECT DISTINCT	acc_id
			FROM		#Temp
		) tmp ON tmp.acc_id = src.acc_id
WHERE		src.ts = 0
		AND src.sts_cod = 0
		AND src.hh_mtch_addr_info_ncoa_mtch = 'f'
		AND LEFT(src.hld_idv_nm, 20) = LEFT(src.hh_mtch_addr_info_name_on_ncoa, 20)
		AND src.hld_idv_nm <> src.hh_mtch_addr_info_name_on_ncoa

-- Do the actual INSERT
INSERT	#acc_add
	(  
		acc_id,   
		add_id  
	)
SELECT	s.*
FROM	@Stage s
WHERE 	(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM @Stage s2 WHERE s2.acc_id = s.acc_id AND s2.add_id <= s.add_id) <= 5

INSERT INTO #acc_add ( acc_id, add_id )
SELECT Acc.acc_id, Add.add_id
FROM ( SELECT DISTINCT acc_id FROM #temp WHERE acc_id IS NOT NULL ) AS Acc
CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT TOP 5 add_id
    FROM rj_wrk_ncoa_mar (NOLOCK)
    WHERE ts = 0
      AND acc_id = Acc.acc_id
      AND sts_cod = 0
      AND hh_mtch_addr_info_ncoa_mtch = 'f'
      AND left(hld_idv_nm, 20) = left(hh_mtch_addr_info_name_on_ncoa, 20)
      AND hld_idv_nm <> hh_mtch_addr_info_name_on_ncoa
  ) AS Add

DELETE FROM #temp WHERE acc_id IS NOT NULL