Fetching Random Rows From SQL Se
Tip: Fetching Random Rows From SQL Server
Recently I needed to fetch random rows from a SQL server table. If you have
an integer column then using RAND() function goes well. However in my case there
was no number column. In such cases you can use the following query:
SELECT TOP <n> <column list>
FROM <table>
WHERE <criteria>
ORDER BY NEWID()
The key is the use of NEWID() function that returns a GUID. An example query
would look something like this:
SELECT TOP 10 *
FROM Employees
ORDER BY NEWID()
This way is also useful for selecting data for testing purposes.
Bipin Joshi is an independent software consultant, trainer, author, yoga mentor, and meditation teacher. He has been programming, meditating, and teaching for 24+ years. He conducts instructor-led
online training courses in ASP.NET family of technologies for individuals and small groups. He is a published author and has authored or co-authored books for Apress and Wrox press. Having embraced the Yoga way of life he also teaches
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