ASA Programming Guide
Using SQL in Applications
When you execute a query in an application, the result set consists of a number of rows. In general, you do not know how many rows the application is going to receive before you execute the query. Cursors provide a way of handling query result sets in applications.
The way you use cursors, and the kinds of cursors available to you, depend on the programming interface you use. For a list of cursor types available from each interface, see Availability of cursors.
With cursors, you can carry out the following tasks within any programming interface:
Loop over the results of a query.
Carry out inserts, updates, and deletes on the underlying data at any point within a result set.
In addition, some programming interfaces allow you to use special features to tune the way result sets return to your application, providing substantial performance benefits for your application.
For more information on the kinds of cursors available through different programming interfaces, see Availability of cursors.
What are cursors?
Benefits of using cursors
Steps in using cursors