Isolation level   You can explicitly set the isolation level of operations on a cursor to be different from the current isolation level of the transaction. To do this, set the isolation_level option.

For more information, see isolation_level option [compatibility].

Holding   By default, cursors in embedded SQL close at the end of a transaction. Opening a cursor WITH HOLD allows you to keep it open until the end of a connection, or until you explicitly close it. ADO.NET, ODBC, JDBC, and Open Client leave cursors open at the end of transactions by default.