Get Multiple Values in SQL Server Cursor

Taking Efficiency and Robustness to the Next Level

To escort your cursor journey with safety and efficiency, TRY-CATCH blocks come in handy to add a layer of error handling:

BEGIN TRY
   -- Your cursor operations go here
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
   -- Because even SQL has bad days
   SELECT ERROR_MESSAGE() AS ErrorMessage; 
END CATCH
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Need to fetch the records in sequence? Tag along ORDER BY with a window function like ROW_NUMBER():

SELECT ID, Name, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ID) AS RowID FROM Employees;
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For non-sequential retrievals, FETCH ABSOLUTE or FETCH RELATIVE offers you a joyride:

FETCH ABSOLUTE 10 FROM myCursor INTO @ID, @Name; -- 10th place, curtain raiser, ready!
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Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Processing data with a cursor can be like walking a tightrope. Good to know the common pitfalls:

• Overuse: Cursors are like dessert, too much can be a problem. Set-based operations could be your main course.
• Biting more than you can chew: Cursors can lock resources and become a pain. Fabric softener? Close and deallocate after use!
• Memory Overhead: Like lugging around heavy suitcase. Be aware of memory overhead with large data.

Alternatives to Using Cursors

Feels like going off the beaten track? Temporary tables or table variables could give you a breather:

DECLARE @RespiteTable TABLE (ID INT, Name NVARCHAR(255));
INSERT INTO @RespiteTable
SELECT ID, Name FROM Employees;
--Set-based operations, easy breezy!
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Right Time to Use Cursors

Despite the overhead, cursors can be your best buddies when:

• Complex Computation: Need to slice and dice data per-row and set-based solutions make you go 🤯.
• Procedural Operations: When your task involves calling stored procedures for each row.
• Row-by-Row Logic: Complex logic where operations cannot be translated into set-based solutions.