Cursors in SQL procedures allow defining a result set that can be iterated through row by row. A cursor acts as a pointer to each row in the result set. To use a cursor, it must be declared to define the result set, opened to establish the result set, rows must be fetched from the cursor one at a time into variables, and the cursor closed once complete. The example demonstrates declaring a cursor for a SELECT statement, fetching rows and summing a value, and closing the cursor to return the result.

1. Cursors in SQL procedures
In SQL procedures, a cursor make it possible to define a result set (a
set of data rows) and perform complex logic on a row by row basis. By
using the same mechanics, an SQL procedure can also define a result set
and return it directly to the caller of the SQL procedure or to a client
application.
A cursor can be viewed as a pointer to one row in a set of rows. The
cursor can only reference one row at a time, but can move to other rows
of the result set as needed.
To use cursors in SQL procedures, you need to do the following:
1.Declare a cursor that defines a result set.
2.Open the cursor to establish the result set.
3.Fetch the data into local variables as needed from the cursor, one row
at a time.
4.Close the cursor when done
To work with cursors you must use the following SQL statements:
•DECLARE CURSOR
•OPEN
•FETCH
•CLOSE
The following example demonstrates the basic use of a read-only cursor
within an SQL procedure:
CREATE PROCEDURE sum_salaries(OUT sum INTEGER)
LANGUAGE SQL
BEGIN
DECLARE SQLSTATE CHAR(5) DEFAULT '00000';
DECLARE p_sum INTEGER;
DECLARE p_sal INTEGER;
DECLARE c CURSOR FOR SELECT SALARY FROM EMPLOYEE;
SET p_sum = 0;
OPEN c;
FETCH FROM c INTO p_sal;
WHILE(SQLSTATE = '00000') DO
SET p_sum = p_sum + p_sal;
FETCH FROM c INTO p_sal;
END WHILE;
CLOSE c;
SET sum = p_sum;

2. END;
;