Hi Bill,
I think a rowid in conjunction with a TOP is the best choice. TOP
should allow the engine to optimise selecting the first x rows rather
than all the rows.

a rowid would also allow more flexibility in other areas; ie I am in
the middle of developing a java HTML reporter which combines data from
SQL resultsets with HTML templates. Being able to select a rowid and
perform functions on it would allow me to change the formating of
every fifth row for example just by changing the template.

Regards
Ian Newby.