Variables in select statement

[markjtraynor]

Hi is it possible to use a variable when select the top x many records to be returned e.g.

select top @recstoreturn from orders

where @recstoreturn is passed into a stored procedure?

Cheers
Mark

[MAK]

create proc topx @recstoreturn int as
declare @query varchar(8000)
set @query = 'select top ' +convert(varchar,@recstoreturn) +'* from sysobjects'
exec (@query)

go

exec topx 5

[markjtraynor]

Thanks, is there any way to do it without creating the text string and using the exec?

[skhanal]

No. Only options are exec or sp_executesql which also requires you to build a string.