Get at least x number of rows in MySQL?

To get at least x number of rows, you need to use the LIMIT clause. Following is the syntax −

select *from yourTableName order by yourColumnName DESC limit yourXNumberOfRows;

Let us first create a table −

mysql> create table DemoTable (
   EmployeeId int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,EmployeeName varchar(100)
);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.76 sec)

Insert some records in the table using insert command −

mysql> insert into DemoTable(EmployeeName) values('Chris');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.17 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable(EmployeeName) values('David');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.12 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable(EmployeeName) values('Bob');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.51 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable(EmployeeName) values('Robert');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.37 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable(EmployeeName) values('Mike');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.12 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable(EmployeeName) values('Sam');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.13 sec)

Display all records from the table using select statement −

mysql> select *from DemoTable;

This will produce the following output −

+------------+--------------+
| EmployeeId | EmployeeName |
+------------+--------------+
|          1 | Chris        |
|          2 | David        |
|          3 | Bob          |
|          4 | Robert       |
|          5 | Mike         |
|          6 | Sam          |
+------------+--------------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Following is the query to get at least x number of rows in MySQL. Here, we are displaying only 2 rows −

mysql> select *from DemoTable order by EmployeeName DESC limit 2;

This will produce the following output −

+------------+--------------+
| EmployeeId | EmployeeName |
+------------+--------------+
| 6          | Sam          |
| 4          | Robert       |
+------------+--------------+
2 rows in set (0.02 sec)