OPEN Statement

The OPEN statement executes the query associated with a cursor. It allocates database resources to process the query and identifies the result set -- the rows that match the query conditions. The cursor is positioned before the first row in the result set. For more information, see "Querying Data with PL/SQL".

Syntax

open statement ::=

Description of the illustration open_statement.gif

Keyword and Parameter Description

cursor_name

An explicit cursor previously declared within the current scope and not currently open.

cursor_parameter_name

A variable declared as the formal parameter of a cursor. (For the syntax of cursor_parameter_declaration, see "Cursor Declaration".) A cursor parameter can appear in a query wherever a constant can appear.

Usage Notes

Generally, PL/SQL parses an explicit cursor only the first time it is opened and parses a SQL statement (creating an implicit cursor) only the first time the statement is executed. All the parsed SQL statements are cached. A SQL statement is reparsed only if it is aged out of the cache by a new SQL statement. Although you must close a cursor before you can reopen it, PL/SQL need not reparse the associated SELECT statement. If you close, then immediately reopen the cursor, a reparse is definitely not needed.

Rows in the result set are not retrieved when the OPEN statement is executed. The FETCH statement retrieves the rows. With a FOR UPDATE cursor, the rows are locked when the cursor is opened.

If formal parameters are declared, actual parameters must be passed to the cursor. The formal parameters of a cursor must be IN parameters; they cannot return values to actual parameters. The values of actual parameters are used when the cursor is opened. The datatypes of the formal and actual parameters must be compatible. The query can also reference PL/SQL variables declared within its scope.

Unless you want to accept default values, each formal parameter in the cursor declaration must have a corresponding actual parameter in the OPEN statement. Formal parameters declared with a default value do not need a corresponding actual parameter. They assume their default values when the OPEN statement is executed.

You can associate the actual parameters in an OPEN statement with the formal parameters in a cursor declaration using positional or named notation.

If a cursor is currently open, you cannot use its name in a cursor FOR loop.

Examples

For examples, see the following:

Example 6-10, "Fetching With a Cursor"
Example 6-13, "Fetching Bulk Data With a Cursor"
Example 13-1, "Declaring and Assigning Values to Variables"