Cursor FOR LOOP Statement

The cursor FOR LOOP statement implicitly declares its loop index as a record variable of the row type that a specified cursor returns, and then opens a cursor. With each iteration, the cursor FOR LOOP statement fetches a row from the result set into the record. When there are no more rows to fetch, the cursor FOR LOOP statement closes the cursor. The cursor also closes if a statement inside the loop transfers control outside the loop or raises an exception.

Topics

• Syntax

• Semantics

• Examples

• Related Topics

Syntax

cursor_for_loop_statement ::=

Description of the illustration cursor_for_loop_statement.gif

See "statement ::=".

Semantics

record

Name for the loop index that the cursor FOR LOOP statement implicitly declares as a %ROWTYPE record variable of the type that cursor or select_statement returns.

record is local to the cursor FOR LOOP statement. Statements inside the loop can reference record and its fields. They can reference virtual columns only by aliases. Statements outside the loop cannot reference record. After the cursor FOR LOOP statement runs, record is undefined.

cursor

Name of an explicit cursor that is not open when the cursor FOR LOOP is entered.

actual_cursor_parameter

Actual parameter that corresponds to a formal parameter of cursor.

select_statement

SQL SELECT statement (not PL/SQL SELECT INTO statement). For select_statement, PL/SQL declares, opens, fetches from, and closes an implicit cursor. However, because select_statement is not an independent statement, the implicit cursor is internal—you cannot reference it with the name SQL.

label

Label that identifies cursor_for_loop_statement (see "statement ::=" and "label"). CONTINUE, EXIT, and GOTO statements can reference this label.

Labels improve readability, especially when LOOP statements are nested, but only if you ensure that the label in the END LOOP statement matches a label at the beginning of the same LOOP statement (the compiler does not check).

Examples

• Example 6-18, "Implicit Cursor FOR LOOP Statement"

• Example 6-19, "Explicit Cursor FOR LOOP Statement"

• Example 6-20, "Passing Parameters to Explicit Cursor FOR LOOP Statement"

• Example 6-21, "Cursor FOR Loop References Virtual Columns"

Related Topics

In this chapter:

• "Basic LOOP Statement"

• "CONTINUE Statement"

• "EXIT Statement"

• "Explicit Cursor Declaration and Definition"

• "FETCH Statement"

• "FOR LOOP Statement"

• "FORALL Statement"

• "OPEN Statement"

• "WHILE LOOP Statement"

In other chapters:

• "Query Result Set Processing With Cursor FOR LOOP Statements"