MySQL 5.7 Release Notes
Server-side cursors are implemented in the C API using the
mysql_stmt_attr_set() function.
The same implementation is used for cursors in stored routines.
A server-side cursor enables a result set to be generated on the
server side, but not transferred to the client except for those
rows that the client requests. For example, if a client executes
a query but is only interested in the first row, the remaining
rows are not transferred.
In MySQL, a server-side cursor is materialized into an internal
temporary table. Initially, this is a MEMORY
table, but is converted to a MyISAM table
when its size exceeds the minimum value of the
max_heap_table_size and
tmp_table_size system
variables. The same restrictions apply to internal temporary
tables created to hold the result set for a cursor as for other
uses of internal temporary tables. See
Section 8.4.4, “Internal Temporary Table Use in MySQL”. One limitation of
the implementation is that for a large result set, retrieving
its rows through a cursor might be slow.
Cursors are read only; you cannot use a cursor to update rows.
UPDATE WHERE CURRENT OF and DELETE
WHERE CURRENT OF are not implemented, because
updatable cursors are not supported.
Cursors are nonholdable (not held open after a commit).
Cursors are asensitive.
Cursors are nonscrollable.
Cursors are not named. The statement handler acts as the cursor ID.
You can have open only a single cursor per prepared statement. If you need several cursors, you must prepare several statements.
You cannot use a cursor for a statement that generates a result
set if the statement is not supported in prepared mode. This
includes statements such as CHECK
TABLE, HANDLER READ, and
SHOW BINLOG EVENTS.