Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

TOP Enhancements

The TOP clause allows you to specify the number or percentage of rows to be returned by a SELECT statement. SQL Server 2005 introduced the capability for the TOP clause to also be used in INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements, replacing the need for the SET ROWCOUNT statement, which has been deprecated and will not affect DELETE, INSERT, and UPDATE statements in the next release of SQL Server. The TOP syntax was also enhanced to allow the use of a numeric expression for the number value rather than having to use a hard-coded value.

The syntax for the TOP clause is as follows:

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SELECT [TOP (numeric_expression) [PERCENT] [WITH TIES]]   FROM table_name ...[ORDER BY...]DELETE [TOP (numeric_expression) ...