How do I limit the number of results for a specific variable in a SPARQL query?

Question

Let's say I have a SPARQL query like this, looking for resources that have some shared property with a focal resource, and also getting some other statements about the focal resource :

CONSTRUCT {
  ?focal pred:icate ?shared .
  ?other pred:icate ?shared .
}
WHERE {
  ?focal pred:icate ?shared ;
         more:info ?etc ;
         a "foobar" .
  ?other pred:icate ?shared .
}
LIMIT 500

If there are more than 500 other resources, that LIMIT might exclude that more:info statement and object. So, is there a way to say "I only want at most 500 of ?other", or do I have to break this query into multiple pieces?

Answer 1

You can use LIMIT in subqueries, i.e. something like the following:

CONSTRUCT {
  ?focal pred:icate ?shared .
  ?other pred:icate ?shared .
}
WHERE {
    ?focal pred:icate ?shared ;
           more:info ?etc ;
           a "foobar" .
    { 
      SELECT ?shared {
        ?other pred:icate ?shared .
      }
      LIMIT 500
    }
}