A cursor is a name associated with a result set. The result set is obtained from a SELECT statement or stored procedure call.

A cursor is a handle on the result set. At any time, the cursor has a well-defined position within the result set. With a cursor you can examine and possibly manipulate the data one row at a time. SQL Anywhere cursors support forward and backward movement through the query results.

Cursor positions

Cursors can be positioned in the following places:

The cursor position and result set are maintained in the database server. Rows are fetched by the client for display and processing either one at a time or a few at a time. The entire result set does not need to be delivered to the client.