Python PostgreSQL - Limit Records

While executing a PostgreSQL SELECT statement you can limit the number of records in its result using the LIMIT clause.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the LMIT clause in PostgreSQL −

SELECT column1, column2, columnN
FROM table_name
LIMIT [no of rows]

Example

Assume we have created a table with name CRICKETERS using the following query −

postgres=# CREATE TABLE CRICKETERS ( 
   First_Name VARCHAR(255), Last_Name VARCHAR(255), Age int, 
   Place_Of_Birth VARCHAR(255), Country VARCHAR(255)
);
CREATE TABLE
postgres=#

And if we have inserted 5 records in to it using INSERT statements as −

postgres=# insert into CRICKETERS values ('Shikhar', 'Dhawan', 33, 'Delhi', 'India');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# insert into CRICKETERS values ('Jonathan', 'Trott', 38, 'CapeTown', 'SouthAfrica');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# insert into CRICKETERS values ('Kumara', 'Sangakkara', 41, 'Matale', 'Srilanka');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# insert into CRICKETERS values ('Virat', 'Kohli', 30, 'Delhi', 'India');
INSERT 0 1
postgres=# insert into CRICKETERS values ('Rohit', 'Sharma', 32, 'Nagpur', 'India');
INSERT 0 1

Following statement retrieves the first 3 records of the Cricketers table using the LIMIT clause −

postgres=# SELECT * FROM CRICKETERS LIMIT 3;
first_name  | last_name  | age | place_of_birth | country
------------+------------+-----+----------------+-------------
Shikhar     | Dhawan     | 33  | Delhi          | India
Jonathan    | Trott      | 38  | CapeTown       | SouthAfrica
Kumara      | Sangakkara | 41  | Matale         | Srilanka
(3 rows)

If you want to get records starting from a particular record (offset) you can do so, using the OFFSET clause along with LIMIT.

postgres=# SELECT * FROM CRICKETERS LIMIT 3 OFFSET 2;
first_name  | last_name  | age | place_of_birth | country
------------+------------+-----+----------------+----------
Kumara      | Sangakkara | 41  | Matale         | Srilanka
Virat       | Kohli      | 30  | Delhi          | India
Rohit       | Sharma     | 32  | Nagpur         | India
(3 rows)
postgres=#

Example - Limit clause using python

Following python example retrieves the contents of a table named EMPLOYEE, limiting the number of records in the result to 2 −

main.py

import psycopg2

#establishing the connection
conn = psycopg2.connect(
   database="mydb", user='postgres', password='password', host='127.0.0.1', port= '5432'
)

#Setting auto commit false
conn.autocommit = True

#Creating a cursor object using the cursor() method
cursor = conn.cursor()

#Dropping EMPLOYEE table if already exists.
cursor.execute("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS EMPLOYEE")

#Creating table as per requirement
sql ='''CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE(
   FIRST_NAME CHAR(20) NOT NULL,
   LAST_NAME CHAR(20),
   AGE INT,
   SEX CHAR(1),
   INCOME FLOAT
)'''
cursor.execute(sql)

# Preparing SQL queries to INSERT a record into the database.
cursor.execute('''INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, AGE, SEX,
   INCOME) VALUES ('Ramya', 'Rama priya', 27, 'F', 9000)''')
cursor.execute('''INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, AGE, SEX,
   INCOME) VALUES ('Vinay', 'Battacharya', 20, 'M', 6000)''')
cursor.execute('''INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, AGE, SEX,
   INCOME) VALUES ('Sharukh', 'Sheik', 25, 'M', 8300)''')
cursor.execute('''INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, AGE, SEX,
   INCOME) VALUES ('Sarmista', 'Sharma', 26, 'F', 10000)''')
cursor.execute('''INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE(FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, AGE, SEX,
   INCOME) VALUES ('Tripthi', 'Mishra', 24, 'F', 6000)''')

#Retrieving single row
sql = '''SELECT * from EMPLOYEE LIMIT 2 OFFSET 2'''

#Executing the query
cursor.execute(sql)

#Fetching the data
result = cursor.fetchall();
print(result)

#Commit your changes in the database
conn.commit()

#Closing the connection
conn.close()

Output

[('Sharukh', 'Sheik', 25, 'M', 8300.0), ('Sarmista', 'Sharma', 26, 'F', 10000.0)]