With MySQL, how can I generate a column containing the record index in a table?

Question

Is there any way I can get the actual row number from a query?

I want to be able to order a table called league_girl by a field called score; and return the username

Answer 1

I found the original answer incredibly helpful but I also wanted to grab a certain set of rows based on the row numbers I was inserting. As such, I wrapped the entire original answer in a subquery so that I could reference the row number I was inserting.

SELECT * FROM 
( 
    SELECT *, @curRow := @curRow + 1 AS "row_number"
    FROM db.tableName, (SELECT @curRow := 0) r
) as temp
WHERE temp.row_number BETWEEN 1 and 10;

Having a subquery in a subquery is not very efficient, so it would be worth testing whether you get a better result by having your SQL server handle this query, or fetching the entire table and having the application/web server manipulate the rows after the fact.

Personally my SQL server isn't overly busy, so having it handle the nested subqueries was preferable.