Python Sqlite - Limit Records

While fetching records if you want to limit them by a particular number, you can do so, using the LIMIT clause of SQLite.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the LIMIT clause in SQLite −

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 −

sqlite> CREATE TABLE CRICKETERS (
   First_Name VARCHAR(255),
   Last_Name VARCHAR(255),
   Age int,
   Place_Of_Birth VARCHAR(255),
   Country VARCHAR(255)
);
sqlite>

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

sqlite> insert into CRICKETERS values('Shikhar', 'Dhawan', 33, 'Delhi', 'India');
sqlite> insert into CRICKETERS values('Jonathan', 'Trott', 38, 'CapeTown', 'SouthAfrica');
sqlite> insert into CRICKETERS values('Kumara', 'Sangakkara', 41, 'Matale', 'Srilanka');
sqlite> insert into CRICKETERS values('Virat', 'Kohli', 30, 'Delhi', 'India');
sqlite> insert into CRICKETERS values('Rohit', 'Sharma', 32, 'Nagpur', 'India');
sqlite>

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

sqlite> SELECT * FROM CRICKETERS LIMIT 3;
First_Name Last_Name  Age  Place_Of_B Country
---------- ---------- ---- ---------- -------------
Shikhar    Dhawan     33   Delhi      India
Jonathan   Trott      38   CapeTown   SouthAfrica
Kumara     Sangakkara 41   Matale     Srilanka
sqlite>

If you need to limit the records starting from nth record (not 1st), you can do so, using OFFSET along with LIMIT.

sqlite> SELECT * FROM CRICKETERS LIMIT 3 OFFSET 2;
First_Name Last_Name  Age  Place_Of_B Country
---------- ---------- ---- ---------- -------------
Kumara     Sangakkara 41   Matale     Srilanka
Virat      Kohli      30   Delhi      India
Rohit      Sharma     32   Nagpur     India
sqlite>

Example - LIMIT clause using Python

If you Invoke the execute() method on the cursor object by passing the SELECT query along with the LIMIT clause, you can retrieve required number of records.

Following python example retrieves the first two records of the EMPLOYEE table using the LIMIT clause.

main.py

import sqlite3

#Connecting to sqlite
conn = sqlite3.connect('example.db')

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

#Dropping EMPLOYEE table if already exists.
cursor.execute("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS EMPLOYEE")
sql = '''CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE(
   FIRST_NAME CHAR(20) NOT NULL,
   LAST_NAME CHAR(20),
   AGE INT,
   SEX CHAR(1),
   INCOME FLOAT
)'''
cursor.execute(sql)

#Populating the table
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)''')

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

#Retrieving single row
sql = '''SELECT * from EMPLOYEE LIMIT 3'''

#Executing the query
cursor.execute(sql)

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

#Closing the connection
conn.close()

Output

[('Ramya', 'Rama priya', 27, 'F', 9000.0), 
   ('Vinay', 'Battacharya', 20, 'M', 6000.0), 
   ('Sharukh', 'Sheik', 25, 'M', 8300.0)]