Some SQL engines have the LIMIT BY keywords, eg:

SELECT * FROM really_big_table LIMIT BY 0,25
[download]

Which only returns the first 25 elements from the select call. Subsequent pages can be obtained by increasing the parameters to LIMIT BY. I know Mysql has this feature, dunno on others.

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain