Cursor Oracle PLSQL Tutorial

If something goes wrong inside the CURSOR FOR loop, Oracle closes the cursor.
The exception can affect your procedural logic.
The following example compares CURSOR FOR loops to cursors with the LOOP command.

SQL>
SQL> -- create demo table
SQL> create table Employee(
  2    ID                 VARCHAR2(4 BYTE)         NOT NULL,
  3    First_Name         VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  4    Last_Name          VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  5    Start_Date         DATE,
  6    End_Date           DATE,
  7    Salary             Number(8,2),
  8    City               VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  9    Description        VARCHAR2(15 BYTE)
 10  )
 11  /
Table created.
SQL>
SQL> -- prepare data
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2               values ('01','Jason',    'Martin',  to_date('19960725','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20060725','YYYYMMDD'), 1234.56, 'Toronto',  'Programmer')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('02','Alison',   'Mathews', to_date('19760321','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19860221','YYYYMMDD'), 6661.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('03','James',    'Smith',   to_date('19781212','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19900315','YYYYMMDD'), 6544.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('04','Celia',    'Rice',    to_date('19821024','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19990421','YYYYMMDD'), 2344.78, 'Vancouver','Manager')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('05','Robert',   'Black',   to_date('19840115','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980808','YYYYMMDD'), 2334.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('06','Linda',    'Green',   to_date('19870730','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19960104','YYYYMMDD'), 4322.78,'New York',  'Tester')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('07','David',    'Larry',   to_date('19901231','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980212','YYYYMMDD'), 7897.78,'New York',  'Manager')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('08','James',    'Cat',     to_date('19960917','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20020415','YYYYMMDD'), 1232.78,'Vancouver', 'Tester')
  3  /
1 row created.
SQL>
SQL> -- display data in the table
SQL> select * from Employee
  2  /
ID   FIRST_NAME           LAST_NAME            START_DAT END_DATE      SALARY CITY       DESCRIPTION
---- -------------------- -------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- ---------------
01   Jason                Martin               25-JUL-96 25-JUL-06    1234.56 Toronto    Programmer
02   Alison               Mathews              21-MAR-76 21-FEB-86    6661.78 Vancouver  Tester
03   James                Smith                12-DEC-78 15-MAR-90    6544.78 Vancouver  Tester
04   Celia                Rice                 24-OCT-82 21-APR-99    2344.78 Vancouver  Manager
05   Robert               Black                15-JAN-84 08-AUG-98    2334.78 Vancouver  Tester
06   Linda                Green                30-JUL-87 04-JAN-96    4322.78 New York   Tester
07   David                Larry                31-DEC-90 12-FEB-98    7897.78 New York   Manager
08   James                Cat                  17-SEP-96 15-APR-02    1232.78 Vancouver  Tester
8 rows selected.
SQL>
SQL> --Looping through a Cursor by Using the LOOP Command
SQL>
SQL> declare
  2      cursor c_emp (ci_deptNo NUMBER) is
  3        select * from employee where id = ci_deptNo;
  4      r_emp c_emp%ROWTYPE;
  5  begin
  6      open c_emp(10);
  7      loop
  8          fetch c_emp into r_emp;
  9          exit when c_emp%NOTFOUND;
 10          update employee
 11          set salary=salary*1.5
 12          where id=r_emp.id;
 13          DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line('Emp '||r_emp.first_Name||' - salary change:'||r_emp.salary||'->'||r_emp.salary*1.5);
 14      end loop;
 15      close c_emp;
 16  end;
 17  /
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> --Looping through a Cursor by Using a CURSOR FOR Loop
SQL>
SQL> declare
  2      cursor c_emp (ci_deptNo NUMBER) is
  3        select * from employee where id = ci_deptNo;
  4  begin
  5      for r_emp in c_emp(10) loop
  6          update employee
  7          set salary=salary*1.5
  8          where id = r_emp.id;
  9          DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line('Emp '|| r_emp.first_Name||' - salary change:'||r_emp.salary||'-->'||r_emp.salary*1.5);
 10      end loop;
 11  end;
 12  /
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
SQL> -- clean the table
SQL> drop table Employee
  2  /
Table dropped.