Manoharan

• Oct 25th, 2007

 

1. Implicit Cursor
2. Explicit Cursor
3. Ref Cursor

Implicit Cursor like SQL%rowcount,SQL%rowtype...

Explicit   cursors are user defined cursor

Ref Cursor is object name of the cursor type. Its mainly used for dynamic purpose

krishnaindia2007

 Profile Answers by krishnaindia2007 

• May 31st, 2008

 

There are only two types of cursors in oracle Pl/sql.

1. Implicit cursors
2. Explicit cursors
    We can define an explicit cursor as static or dynamic (REF CURSOR).

    The difference between these two is
   1. A cursor is once define its contents are fixed and can't be changed.
    Using ref cursor we can create a dynamic cursor. In dynamic cursors the contents of cursor can be changed dynamically depending upon the sitution.
   2. A cursor can't be passed as parameter from subroutine to subroutine. Where as ref cursor can be passed as paramer to subprograms.
   3. A ref cursor can be returned to the client machine. A cursor can't.
   4. A cusor can be defined globally. A ref cursor can't

  Generally we use ref cursor when we need to return  result set. In other cases it is advisable to use static cursor because they give better performace.