PostgreSQL 9.1.3 Documentation
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# DECLARE

## Name

DECLARE -- define a cursor

## Synopsis

    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

## Description

`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.

## Parameters

`cursor_name`

  A cursor name, case sensitive. This can be an SQL identifier or a host variable.

`prepared_name`

  The name of a prepared query, either as an SQL identifier or a host variable.

`query`

  A SELECT or VALUES command which will provide the rows to be returned by the cursor.

For the meaning of the cursor options, see DECLARE.

## Examples

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;

## Compatibility

`DECLARE` is specified in the SQL standard.

## See Also

OPEN, CLOSE, DECLARE

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