On 6/1/04 4:06 PM, "php-db-digest-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <php-db-digest-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > From: Gerard Samuel <php-db@xxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 10:12:22 -0400 > To: php-db@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Using Cursors > > A bit off topic, but lately I've been running into situations, where I have > to know about using cursors with databases, like sql server, ibm db2.... > Can anyone point me to online resources that explains (to a practical newbie) > "cursors" > > Thanks > I think that in PHP or other languages where you embed SQL into that language cursors are less useful. Cursors allow you to put a collection of rows into a holder and walk through them (something earlier SQL did not allow). In the DBA community cursors are debated - I think because non-SQL programmers tend to think in terms of walking a list doing something to each row (record) while SQL programmers tend to like the SQL style of doing everything to every record in the set at once. But in PHP when you run a query and have a results set - you essentially have a cursor (yes there are some important differences - true cursors live in the DB and have more abilities). But think of cursors just like your results set - you define them by running a SELECT statement and the results are put into this cursor and now you can run a loop of some kind on that cursor. Personally I can't remember the last time I used one, but I know I have used one - I remember looking it up. Frank -- Frank Flynn Poet, Artist & Mystic -- PHP Database Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
