How to limit # of rows returned by SELECT

Does anybody know if there is a way to limit the number of records returned by a SELECT statement? I have a large ODBC database where I would like to display the first 50 records that match a certain criteria, but I don't want the user to have to wait while the SELECT call processes all 7.2 quintillion records as it is a speed-critical application and has to happen in a couple of seconds.

I tried SELECT *, COUNT(*) FROM TABLE WHERE COUNT(*) <=50 but of course this didn't work, nor should it logically.

Any help would be appreciated!

Gordon Lawson, Senior Software Engineer
Computers Unlimited
Billings, MT
(406) 255-9500
gordon_at_cu.comp-unltd.com Received on Thu Feb 08 1996 - 00:00:00 CET