SQL Server tip: retrieving random rows from a table

Usually when working with database, you want to explicitly tell the database which rows you want to retrieve. However, there are times when a random selection instead would be exactly what's needed.

Here's a little tip if you are using SQL Server: you can get any (usually, just a few) rows in random order if you ORDER BY using the Transact-SQL function NEWID().

For instance, with the Northwind sample database:

SELECT TOP 5 *
FROM Customers
ORDER BY NEWID()

The above query would return five random rows, and if you run the query again, another set of random rows. For instance, you might get:

GREAL	Great Lakes Food Market
FRANR	France restauration
PICCO	Piccolo und mehr
HILAA	HILARION-Abastos
TORTU	Tortuga Restaurante

Hope this helps!