Limit query output size in sql

The simple answer to your question is

select top N *
from yourtable

where N is the maximum number of rows you wish to return.

If you need something different, please be more specific as to exactly how you want to what to limit.

you can also use
set rowcount @i

where @i is the number of rows.
This will terminate the select when the number of rows is reached.

Same effect as select top but allows a variable.

I want a limit in bytes not in rows.
Thanks

thanks

I came across this and thought of your situation.  If your goal is to prevent a single query from tieing up the server, then you could use

SET QUERY_GOVERNOR_COST_LIMIT value

where value is the number of "ticks" that that connection is allowed to run a particular query.

If you wanted to set the value on a server basis, then you would use

sp_configure 'QUERY_GOVERNOR_COST_LIMIT', value.

 

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