The slow, stupid, and impractical way is to first ask if any records exist, before asking for the records. Remember that computers are dumb, but they are also f

The slow, stupid, and impractical way is to first ask if any records exist, before asking for the records. Remember that computers are dumb, but they are also fast. Asking for the records without first asking if they exist is an optimization. The records might exist when you ask if they exist, but then they might be gone when you ask for the actual records, now that would be an error.