named_cursor%{ ISOPEN | FOUND | NOTFOUND |ROWCOUNT}
Cursor FOR Loop
[FOR record IN{cursor[( cursor_parameter_dec
[[,] cursor_parameter_dec ]...)]|( select_statement )}LOOPstatement...ENDLOOP[label];
Snowflake Scripting has support for cursors, however, they have fewer functionalities compared to Oracle. For more information, see the Snowflake Scripting cursors documentation.
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE basic_cursor_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},{"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
var1 VARCHAR(20);
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
ORDER BY region_name;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1;
FETCH cursor1 INTO
:var1;
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE explicit_cursor_for_sample ASCURSOR cursor1 ISSELECT region_name FROM hr.regionsORDERBY region_name;BEGINFOR r1 IN cursor1 LOOPNULL;ENDLOOP;END;
Snowflake Scripting Explicit Cursor For Loop Example¶
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE explicit_cursor_for_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
ORDER BY region_name;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1;
--** SSC-PRF-0004 - THIS STATEMENT HAS USAGES OF CURSOR FOR LOOP **
FOR r1 IN cursor1 DO
NULL;
END FOR;
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE implicit_cursor_for_sample ASBEGINFOR r1 IN(SELECT region_name FROM hr.regionsORDERBY region_name)LOOPNULL;ENDLOOP;END;
Snowflake Scripting Implicit Cursor For Loop Example¶
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE implicit_cursor_for_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},{"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
BEGIN
LET temporary_for_cursor_0 CURSOR
FOR
(SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
ORDER BY region_name);
--** SSC-PRF-0004 - THIS STATEMENT HAS USAGES OF CURSOR FOR LOOP **
FOR r1 IN temporary_for_cursor_0 DO
NULL;
END FOR;
END;
$$;
You can use “?” In the filter condition of the cursor at the declaration section define the bind variable. While opening the cursor we can add the additional syntax “USING <bind_variable_1 >” to pass the bind variable.
Below are some examples of scenarios that can occur in the use of parameters in cursors:
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE parameterized_cursor_for_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
WHERE region_id BETWEEN ? AND ?;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1 USING (3, 5);
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;
4.2 Parameterized Cursors With Multiple Sending Parameters¶
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE parameterized_cursor_for_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
WHERE region_id BETWEEN ? AND ?
OR ? < 0;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1 USING (3, 5, 3);
OPEN cursor1 USING (3, 7, 3);
OPEN cursor1 USING (2, 7, 2);
OPEN cursor1 USING (5, 15, 5);
OPEN cursor1 USING (2, 15, 2);
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;
4.3 Parameterized Cursors With Use Of Procedure Parameters In Query¶
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE parameterized_cursor_for_sample (high_param NUMBER(38,18))RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
WHERE region_id BETWEEN ? AND ?;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1 USING (3, high_param);
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;CALL parameterized_cursor_for_sample(5);
Cursors can be controlled through the use of the FOR statement, allowing each and every record of a cursor to be processed while the FETCH statement puts, record by record, the values returned by the cursor into a set of variables, which may be PLSQL records
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE p_cursors_for_loop ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
datePlusOne TIMESTAMP(6);
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
c_product CURSOR
FOR
SELECT
OBJECT_CONSTRUCT('NAME', name, 'PRICE', price, 'CREATE_ON', create_on) sc_cursor_record FROM
products
WHERE price BETWEEN ? AND ?;
BEGIN
OPEN c_product USING (3, 5);
--** SSC-PRF-0004 - THIS STATEMENT HAS USAGES OF CURSOR FOR LOOP **
FOR record_product IN c_product DO
LET record_product OBJECT := record_product.sc_cursor_record;
datePlusOne :=
!!!RESOLVE EWI!!! /*** SSC-EWI-OR0036 - TYPES RESOLUTION ISSUES, ARITHMETIC OPERATION '+' MAY NOT BEHAVE CORRECTLY BETWEEN unknown AND Number ***/!!!
record_product.CREATE_ON + 1;
INSERT INTO sold_items
SELECT
:record_product:NAME,
:record_product:PRICE,
:datePlusOne;
END FOR;
CLOSE c_product;
END;
$$;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE p_cursors_fetch ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{ "origin": "sf_sc", "name": "snowconvert", "version": { "major": 0, "minor": 0, "patch": "0" }, "attributes": { "component": "oracle", "convertedOn": "07/14/2025", "domain": "no-domain-provided" }}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
record_product OBJECT !!!RESOLVE EWI!!! /*** SSC-EWI-0036 - ROWTYPE DATA TYPE CONVERTED TO OBJECT ***/!!! := OBJECT_CONSTRUCT();
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
c_product CURSOR
FOR
SELECT
OBJECT_CONSTRUCT( *) sc_cursor_record FROM
products
WHERE price BETWEEN ? AND ?;
BEGIN
OPEN c_product USING (3, 5);
--** SSC-PRF-0008 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - LOOP USAGE **
LOOP
--** SSC-PRF-0003 - FETCH INSIDE A LOOP IS CONSIDERED A COMPLEX PATTERN, THIS COULD DEGRADE SNOWFLAKE PERFORMANCE. **
FETCH c_product INTO
:record_product;
IF (record_product IS NULL) THEN
EXIT;
END IF;
INSERT INTO sold_items
SELECT
:record_product:NAME,
:record_product:PRICE;
INSERT INTO sold_items
SELECT
null !!!RESOLVE EWI!!! /*** SSC-EWI-OR0002 - COLUMNS FROM EXPRESSION products%rowtype NOT FOUND ***/!!!;
END LOOP;
CLOSE c_product;
END;
$$;
1. RETURN clause is not supported in Snowflake Scripting Cursor Declaration¶
The Cursor Declaration for Snowflake Scripting does not include this clause. It can be removed from the Oracle Cursor definition to get functional equivalence.
2. OPEN statement cannot pass values for declared arguments¶
Even though arguments can be declared for a cursor, their values cannot be assigned in Snowflake Scripting. The best alternative is to use the USING clause with bind variables.
Snowflake Scripting does not support records. However, it is possible to migrate them using the OBJECT data type and the OBJECT_CONSTRUCT() method. For more information please see the Record Type Definition Section.
4. FETCH BULK COLLECT INTO clause is not supported in Snowflake Scripting¶
Snowflake Scripting does not support the BULK COLLECT INTO clause. However, it is possible to use ARRAY_AGG along with a temporal table to construct a new variable with the data corresponding to the Cursor information. For more information please see the Collection Bulk Operations Section.
5. Cursor attributes do not exist in Snowflake Scripting¶
Oracle cursors have different attributes that allow the user to check their status like if it is opened or the amount of fetched rows, however, these attributes regarding the cursor status do not exist in Snowflake Scripting.
6. The cursor’s query does not have access to the procedure’s variables and parameters¶
In Oracle, the query in the cursor declaration has access to procedure variables and parameters but in Snowflake Scripting, it does not. The alternative to this is to use the USING clause with bind variables.
7. %NOTFOUND attribute is not supported in Snowflake Scripting Cursor¶
In Oracle can be used, before the first fetch from an open cursor, cursor_name%NOTFOUND returns TRUE if the last fetch failed to return a row, or FALSE if the last fetch returned a row. Snowflake Scripting does not support the use of this attribute instead it can be validated if the variable assigned to the cursor result contains values
This section explains the translation of the declaration of cursors in Oracle. For more information review the following documentation about procedures and cursors in Oracle.
Snowflake Scripting has no direct equivalence with cursor variables and the OPEN FOR statement, however, they can be emulated with different workarounds to get functional equivalence.
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE procedure1
AS
query1 VARCHAR(200):='SELECT 123 FROM dual';
cursor_var SYS_REFCURSOR;BEGINOPEN cursor_var FOR query1;CLOSE cursor_var;END;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE procedure2 ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},{"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
cursor_var_res RESULTSET;
BEGIN
!!!RESOLVE EWI!!! /*** SSC-EWI-0030 - THE STATEMENT BELOW HAS USAGES OF DYNAMIC SQL. ***/!!!
cursor_var_res := (
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'SELECT 123 FROM dual'
);
LET cursor_var CURSOR
FOR
cursor_var_res;
OPEN cursor_var;
CLOSE cursor_var;
END;
$$;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE procedure3 ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},{"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
cursor_var_res RESULTSET;
BEGIN
LET cursor_var CURSOR
FOR
SELECT 123 FROM dual;
OPEN cursor_var;
CLOSE cursor_var;
END;
$$;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE procedure4 ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
-- !!!RESOLVE EWI!!! /*** SSC-EWI-0058 - FUNCTIONALITY FOR 'PL REF CURSOR TYPE DEFINITION' IS NOT CURRENTLY SUPPORTED BY SNOWFLAKE SCRIPTING ***/!!!
-- TYPE cursor_ref_type1 IS REF CURSOR;
query1 VARCHAR(200) := 'SELECT 123 FROM dual';
cursor_var_res RESULTSET;
BEGIN
!!!RESOLVE EWI!!! /*** SSC-EWI-0030 - THE STATEMENT BELOW HAS USAGES OF DYNAMIC SQL. ***/!!!
cursor_var_res := (
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE :query1
);
LET cursor_var CURSOR
FOR
cursor_var_res;
OPEN cursor_var;
CLOSE cursor_var;
END;
$$;
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE procedure5
AS
query1 VARCHAR(200):='SELECT col1 FROM cursortable1 WHERE col1 = :a';
column_filter INTEGER:=1;
cursor_var SYS_REFCURSOR;BEGINOPEN cursor_var FOR query1 USING column_filter;CLOSE cursor_var;END;
Oracle supports parameters for cursors that are declared. However, Snowflake Scripting does not support this feature, so the declaration and the usage of the cursor are not possible.
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE parametrized_cursor_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{ "origin": "sf_sc", "name": "snowconvert", "version": { "major": 0, "minor": 0, "patch": "0" }, "attributes": { "component": "oracle", "convertedOn": "07/14/2025", "domain": "no-domain-provided" }}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT
OBJECT_CONSTRUCT('REGION_NAME', region_name) sc_cursor_record FROM
hr.regions
where region_id = ?
ORDER BY region_name;
var1 integer;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1 USING (123);
FETCH cursor1 INTO
:var1;
CLOSE cursor1;
OPEN cursor1 USING (456);
--** SSC-PRF-0004 - THIS STATEMENT HAS USAGES OF CURSOR FOR LOOP **
FOR r1 IN cursor1 DO
LET r1 OBJECT := r1.sc_cursor_record;
NULL;
END FOR;
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;
Try using bindings for the query in the cursor and open the cursor with the USING clause. Keep in mind that a parameter that is used multiple times on a single cursor may require passing the variable multiple times in the USING clause.
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDUREPUBLIC.parametrized_cursor_sample_fixed ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLEXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
var1 STRING;
cursor1 CURSOR FOR SELECT region_name FROM hr.regions where region_id = ? ORDER BY region_name;
BEGIN
NULL;
OPEN cursor1 USING (1);
FETCH cursor1 INTO var1;
CLOSE cursor1;
OPEN cursor1 USING (2);
FOR r1 IN cursor1 DO
NULL;
END FOR;
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;
This section describes how to simulate the usage of cursor parameters and procedure variables inside the query of a cursor. The name of the variables or parameters is replaced with bindings using the ? sign. Then, when the cursor is opened, the values should be passed with the USING clause.
Note
Some parts in the output code are omitted for clarity reasons.
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE oracle_cursor_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{ "origin": "sf_sc", "name": "snowconvert", "version": { "major": 0, "minor": 0, "patch": "0" }, "attributes": { "component": "oracle", "convertedOn": "07/14/2025", "domain": "no-domain-provided" }}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
like_value VARCHAR(255);
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
c1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT region_name FROM
hr.regions
WHERE region_name LIKE ?
ORDER BY region_name;
r_name VARCHAR(255);
BEGIN
like_value := 'E%';
OPEN c1 USING (like_value);
FETCH c1 INTO
:r_name;
CLOSE c1;
like_value := 'A%';
OPEN c1;
--** SSC-PRF-0004 - THIS STATEMENT HAS USAGES OF CURSOR FOR LOOP **
FOR r1 IN c1 DO
NULL;
END FOR;
CLOSE c1;
END;
$$;
Use bindings for the query in the cursor for each parameter used and open the cursor with the USING clause. Keep in mind that a parameter that is used multiple times on a single cursor may require passing the variable multiple times in the USING clause.
CREATEORREPLACEPROCEDURE parametrized_cursor_sample ()RETURNSVARCHARLANGUAGESQLCOMMENT='{"origin":"sf_sc","name":"snowconvert","version":{"major":1, "minor":0},"attributes":{"component":"oracle"}}'EXECUTEASCALLERAS$$
DECLARE
--** SSC-PRF-0009 - PERFORMANCE REVIEW - CURSOR USAGE **
cursor1 CURSOR
FOR
SELECT
OBJECT_CONSTRUCT('REGION_NAME', region_name) sc_cursor_record FROM
hr.regions
where region_id = ?
ORDER BY region_name;
var1 integer;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1 USING (123);
FETCH cursor1 INTO
:var1;
CLOSE cursor1;
OPEN cursor1 USING (456);
--** SSC-PRF-0004 - THIS STATEMENT HAS USAGES OF CURSOR FOR LOOP **
FOR r1 IN cursor1 DO
LET r1 OBJECT := r1.sc_cursor_record;
NULL;
END FOR;
CLOSE cursor1;
END;
$$;