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Cursors for T-SQL

This topic provides reference information about cursor compatibility between Microsoft SQL Server 2019 and Amazon Aurora MySQL. You can understand the differences in cursor support and functionality when migrating from SQL Server to Aurora MySQL.

SQL Server Usage

A set is a fundamental concept of the relation data model, from which SQL is derived. SQL is a declarative language that operates on whole sets, unlike most procedural languages that operate on individual data elements. A single invocation of a SQL statement can return a whole set or modify millions of rows.

Many developers are accustomed to using procedural or imperative approaches to develop solutions that are difficult to implement using set-based querying techniques. Also, operating on row data sequentially may be a more appropriate approach is certain situations.

Cursors provide an alternative mechanism for operating on result sets. Instead of receiving a table object containing rows of data, applications can use cursors to access the data sequentially, row-by-row. Cursors provide the following capabilities:

Syntax

DECLARE <Cursor Name>
CURSOR [LOCAL | GLOBAL]
    [FORWARD_ONLY | SCROLL]
    [STATIC | KEYSET | DYNAMIC | FAST_FORWARD]
    [ READ_ONLY | SCROLL_LOCKS | OPTIMISTIC]
    [TYPE_WARNING]
    FOR <SELECT statement>
    [ FOR UPDATE [ OF <Column List>]][;]

FETCH [NEXT | PRIOR | FIRST | LAST | ABSOLUTE <Value> | RELATIVE <Value>]
FROM <Cursor Name> INTO <Variable List>;

Examples

The following example processes data in a cursor.

DECLARE MyCursor CURSOR FOR
    SELECT *
    FROM Table1 AS T1
        INNER JOIN
        Table2 AS T2
        ON T1.Col1 = T2.Col1;
    OPEN MyCursor;
    DECLARE @VarCursor1 VARCHAR(20);
    FETCH NEXT
        FROM MyCursor INTO @VarCursor1;

    WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
    BEGIN
        EXEC MyPRocessingProcedure
            @InputParameter = @VarCursor1;
        FETCH NEXT
            FROM product_cursor INTO @VarCursor1;
    END

    CLOSE MyCursor;
    DEALLOCATE MyCursor ;

For more information, see SQL Server Cursors and Cursors (Transact-SQL) in the SQL Server documentation.

MySQL Usage

Amazon Aurora MySQL-Compatible Edition (Aurora MySQL) supports cursors only within stored routines, functions and stored procedures.

Unlike SQL Server, which offers an array of cursor types, Aurora MySQL cursors have the following characteristics:

In Aurora MySQL, cursor declarations appear before handler declarations and after variable and condition declarations.

Similar to SQL Server, you can declare cursors with the DECLARE CURSOR statement. To open a cursor, use the OPEN statement. To fetch a cursor, use the FETCH statement. You can close the cursor with the CLOSE statement.

DECLARE Cursor

DECLARE <Cursor Name> CURSOR
FOR <Cursor SELECT Statement>

The DECLARE CURSOR statement instantiates a cursor object and associates it with a SELECT statement. This SELECT is then used to retrieve the cursor rows.

To fetch the rows, use the FETCH statement. As mentioned before, Aurora MySQL supports only FETCH NEXT. Make sure that the number of output variables specified in the FETCH statement matches the number of columns retrieved by the cursor.

Aurora MySQL cursors have additional characteristics:

OPEN Cursor

OPEN <Cursor Name>;

The OPEN command populates the cursor with the data, either dynamically or in a temporary table, and readies the first row for consumption by the FETCH statement.

FETCH Cursor

FETCH [[NEXT] FROM] <Cursor Name>
INTO <Variable 1> [,<Variable n>]

The FETCH statement retrieves the current pointer row, assigns the column values to the variables listed in the FETCH statement, and advances the cursor pointer by one row. If the row isn’t available, meaning the cursor has been exhausted, Aurora MySQL raises a no data condition with the SQLSTATE value set to 0200000.

To catch this condition, or the alternative NOT FOUND condition, create a condition handler. For more information, see Error Handling.

CLOSE Cursor

CLOSE <Cursor Name>;

The CLOSE statement closes an open cursor. If the cursor with the specified name doesn’t exist, Aurora MySQL raises an error. If a cursor isn’t explicitly closed, Aurora MySQL closes it automatically at the end of the BEGIN …​ END block in which it was declared.

Migration Considerations

The Aurora MySQL Cursors framework is much simpler than SQL Server and provides only the basic types. If your code relies on advanced cursor features, these will need to be rewritten.

However, most applications use forward only, read only cursors, and those will be easy to migrate.

If your application uses cursors in ad-hoc batches, move the code to a stored procedure or a function.

Examples

The following examples use a cursor to iterate over source rows and merges into the OrderItems table.

Create the OrderItems table.

CREATE TABLE OrderItems
(
    OrderID INT NOT NULL,
    Item VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
    Quantity SMALLINT NOT NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY(OrderID, Item)
);

Create and populate the SourceTable table.

CREATE TABLE SourceTable
(
    OrderID INT,
    Item VARCHAR(20),
    Quantity SMALLINT,
    PRIMARY KEY (OrderID, Item)
);

INSERT INTO SourceTable (OrderID, Item, Quantity)
VALUES
(1, 'M8 Bolt', 100),
(2, 'M8 Nut', 100),
(3, 'M8 Washer', 200);

Create a procedure to loop through SourceTable and insert rows.

CREATE PROCEDURE LoopItems()
BEGIN
    DECLARE done INT DEFAULT FALSE;
    DECLARE var_OrderID INT;
    DECLARE var_Item VARCHAR(20);
    DECLARE var_Quantity SMALLINT;
    DECLARE ItemCursor CURSOR
    FOR
        SELECT OrderID,
            Item,
            Quantity
        FROM SourceTable;
    DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER
        FOR NOT FOUND
        SET done = TRUE;
    OPEN ItemCursor;
    CursorStart: LOOP
    FETCH NEXT
        FROM ItemCursor
        INTO var_OrderID,
            var_Item,
            var_Quantity;
    IF Done
        THEN LEAVE CursorStart;
    END IF;
        INSERT INTO OrderItems (OrderID, Item, Quantity)
        VALUES (var_OrderID, var_Item, var_Quantity);
    END LOOP;
    CLOSE ItemCursor;
END;

Run the stored procedure.

CALL LoopItems();

Select all rows from the OrderItems table.

SELECT * FROM OrderItems;
OrderID  Item       Quantity
1        M8 Bolt    100
2        M8 Nut     100
3        M8 Washer  200

Summary

For more information, see Cursors in the MySQL documentation.