Question

I want to have a variable for selecting top rows. I can select top rows based on a variable. However I want to select all rows if the variable is not supplied.

Currently I’m using this query:

DECLARE @TOPCOUNT int;
SET @TOPCOUNT=10;

SELECT TOP(@TOPCOUNT) * FROM TABLE1

Update:

1. The original query is very lengthy and complex, so I don’t to rewrite the entire query without top count in else clause.

2. I don’t want to use dynamic query because of its repercussions.

Answer 1

Something like this:

DECLARE @TOPCOUNT int;
--SET @TOPCOUNT=10;

IF @TOPCOUNT IS NULL
    SELECT * FROM TABLE1
ELSE
    SELECT TOP(@TOPCOUNT) * FROM TABLE1

Added after above UPDATE – if this is a parameter of a Stored Procedure then just provide a default for @TOPCOUNT:

@TOPCOUNT INT = 2147483647 --max size of INT