For older versions of SQL Server, you can use:
SET ROWCOUNT @NumberOfResults
SELECT * FROM MyTable
SET ROWCOUNT 0
However, you should not use this technique on 2008:
Using SET ROWCOUNT will not affect
DELETE, INSERT, and UPDATE statements
in the next release of SQL Server
(2008). Do not use SET ROWCOUNT with
DELETE, INSERT, and UPDATE statements
in new development work, and plan to
modify applications that currently use
it. Also, for DELETE, INSERT, and
UPDATE statements that currently use
SET ROWCOUNT, we recommend that you
rewrite them to use the TOP syntax.
For more information, see DELETE
(Transact-SQL), INSERT (Transact-SQL),
or UPDATE (Transact-SQL).
