DECLARE cursor_name [ BINARY ] [ INSENSITIVE ] [ [ NO ] SCROLL ] CURSOR [ { WITH | WITHOUT } HOLD ] FOR prepared_name DECLARE cursor_name [ BINARY ] [ INSENSITIVE ] [ [ NO ] SCROLL ] CURSOR [ { WITH | WITHOUT } HOLD ] FOR query
DECLARE declares a cursor for iterating over the result set of a prepared statement. This command has slightly different semantics from the direct SQL command DECLARE: Whereas the latter executes a query and prepares the result set for retrieval, this embedded SQL command merely declares a name as a "loop variable" for iterating over the result set of a query; the actual execution happens when the cursor is opened with the OPEN command.
Examples declaring a cursor for a query:
EXEC SQL DECLARE C CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM My_Table; EXEC SQL DECLARE C CURSOR FOR SELECT Item1 FROM T; EXEC SQL DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR SELECT version();
An example declaring a cursor for a prepared statement:
EXEC SQL PREPARE stmt1 AS SELECT version(); EXEC SQL DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR stmt1;