Is there a way in transact sql to only acquire the last record in my returned dataset?

Here is my select statement:

SELECT NXTACT
    FROM INVPOCS_POI_NXTACT N, INVPOCS_POI P
    WHERE N.FKEY = P.PKEY
    AND P.REQUSTNNUM = '1951225'
    AND P.ENTITYCODE = 'HAR';

This resultset has 3 rows returned and I want to get at the last row.

Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks.

What do you mean by "last"?

The concept of "last" implies some sort of ordering. Absent any ORDER BY clause the system is free to deliver the rows of a resultset in any old order it wants to.

If you want a resultset to be ordered, then specify an ORDER BY clause, then the MAX value of the ordering column(s) will guide you to the row that has the maximum value as per your ordering instructions...

Jeff Mason
Custom Apps, Inc.
www.custom-apps.com

The last record means nothing in database/table/set theory. The database can return the records in any order unless you provide an ORDER BY clause. Most database systems however are consistent.
If you supply an ORDER BY column then you can use the TOP specifier to get the record you need. For example if P.PKey are ascending values then: will order them in reverse order and then return just the top row.

--

Joe (Microsoft MVP - XML)

Ok. Thanks for the clarification and the help.

Jeff,

Thanks for the post. Good to see you here.

Richard