How to read the last row with SQL Server

Question

What is the most efficient way to read the last row with SQL Server?

The table is indexed on a unique key -- the \"bottom\" key values represent the last row.

Answer 1

I tried using last in sql query in SQl server 2008 but it gives this err: " 'last' is not a recognized built-in function name."

So I ended up using :

select max(WorkflowStateStatusId) from WorkflowStateStatus 

to get the Id of the last row. One could also use

Declare @i int
set @i=1
select WorkflowStateStatusId from Workflow.WorkflowStateStatus
 where WorkflowStateStatusId not in (select top (
   (select count(*) from Workflow.WorkflowStateStatus) - @i ) WorkflowStateStatusId from .WorkflowStateStatus)