Help with multiple table joins

Question

I'm trying to limit the results of a query joining multiple tables. I have a main table, tbl_webrequests, and multiple tables with supporting information. The unique column for tbl_webrequests is reqID. There is another table, tbl_instructions, that holds all the instructions tied to each request. I join the tables using reqID.
I'm trying to construct a page that has all of the records in tbl_webrequests. The problem I'm having is that with each request that has multiple instructions, I have multiple results because of the multiple instructions for one reqID. For now, all I want is the original instruction to display. Below is the original query, and below that is what I'm trying to get the query to do for each record in tbl_webrequest. Note that 319 is a random uniqueID in tbl_webrequests.
SELECT
DISTINCT W.reqID, W.dt_close, W.dt_due, W.subject, W.statusid, W.empID, W.priorityid, W.assigneeid, W.categoryid, W.url, W.hrs,
W.closingNotes, W.mins, W.requestTypeID, I.instructions, I.instID
from tbl_webrequests W left join
(select reqID, instID, instructions from tbl_instructions) I on W.reqID = I.reqID
ORDER BY I.instID asc;
SELECT
distinct I.instructions, I.instID, W.reqID, W.dt_close, W.dt_due, W.subject, W.statusid, W.empID, W.priorityid, W.assigneeid, W.categoryid, W.url, W.hrs,
W.closingNotes, W.mins, W.requestTypeID
from tbl_webrequests W left join
(select reqID, instID, instructions from tbl_instructions where rowNum = 1 and reqid = 319 order by instID asc) I on W.reqID = I.reqID
where W.reqID = 319
ORDER BY I.instID asc;
My question is, how do I pass the reqID as a variable into the join subquery so that the query returns only returns the first joined item in tbl_instructions for each record in tbl_webrequests?
Any help is appreciated
Thanks!

Answer 1

Scrap the "DISTINCT" and try something like this:
Select
       I.Instructions, I.Instid
     , W.Reqid, W.Dt_Close, W.Dt_Due, W.Subject, W.Statusid, W.Empid, W.Priorityid
     , W.Assigneeid, W.Categoryid, W.Url, W.Hrs, W.Closingnotes, W.Mins, W.Requesttypeid
  From Tbl_Webrequests W Left Join
     ( Select Reqid, Instid, Instructions
         From Tbl_Instructions I0
        Where Instid = (Select Min(Instid) From Tbl_Instructions I1
                         Where I1.Reqid = I0.Reqid)
     ) I On W.Reqid = I.Reqid
Where W.Reqid = 319
Order By I.Instid Asc;;)