Use TOP n clause with the DELETE statement. : Top « Query « SQL Server / T-SQL Tutorial

3>
4> create table department(
5>    dept_name     char(20)     not null,
6>    emp_cnt       int          not null,
7>    budget        float,
8>    date_month    datetime);
9> GO
1>
2> insert into department values('Research', 5, 50000, '01.01.2002');
3> insert into department values('Research', 10, 70000, '01.02.2002');
4> insert into department values('Research', 5, 65000, '01.07.2002');
5> insert into department values('Accounting', 5, 10000, '01.07.2002');
6> insert into department values('Accounting', 10, 40000, '01.02.2002');
7> insert into department values('Accounting', 6, 30000, '01.01.2002');
8> insert into department values('Accounting', 6, 40000, '01.02.2003');
9> insert into department values('Marketing', 6, 10000, '01.01.2003');
10> insert into department values('Marketing', 10, 40000, '01.02.2003');
11> insert into department values('Marketing', 3, 30000, '01.07.2003');
12> insert into department values('Marketing', 5, 40000, '01.01.2003');
13> GO

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)

(1 rows affected)
1>
2> DELETE TOP (4)
3> FROM department
4> WHERE budget IN (select TOP 4 budget from department order by budget asc)
5> GO

(4 rows affected)
1>
2>
3> drop table department;
4> GO

1.15.Top
	1.15.1.	TOP n Clause
	1.15.2.	TOP n Query with ORDER BY
	1.15.3.	Top Clause with the UPDATE statement.
	1.15.4.	Use TOP n clause with the DELETE statement.
	1.15.5.	A SELECT statement with a TOP clause
	1.15.6.	A SELECT statement with a TOP clause and the PERCENT keyword
	1.15.7.	A SELECT statement with a TOP clause and the WITH TIES keyword
	1.15.8.	A query that uses a derived table to retrieve the top 5 Bankers by average Billing total
	1.15.9.	Define variable for query top percent
	1.15.10.	Declare variable and use it in 'TOP PERCENT'