Original Select contains one of SGSV's In-Line functions used to create Links. The first @MakeLink create a link using the URL as the title as no Title is supplied, while the second @Makelink uses the a supplied Title and adds the option to open link in new window.
Select top 3
url, title,
[@MakeLink:url] as Link,
[@MakeLink:[url]:[title]:TRUE] as [NewWindowLink]
From
links
Where
url like 'http:%'
Check out the actual SQL generated as required by the In-Line functions. The functions then process the columns as required to create the links.