Chapter 4. Using Cursors
Table of Contents
Getting Records Using the Cursor
Working with Duplicate Records
Deleting Records Using Cursors
Replacing Records Using Cursors
Cursors provide a mechanism by which you can iterate over the records in a database. Using cursors, you can get, put, and delete database records. If a database allows duplicate records, then cursors are the easiest way that you can access anything other than the first record for a given key.
This chapter introduces cursors. It explains how to open and close them, how to use them to modify databases, and how to use them with duplicate records.
Opening and Closing Cursors
Cursors are managed using the DBC structure. To use a cursor, you must open it using the DB->cursor() method.
For example:
#include <db.h>
...
DB *my_database;
DBC *cursorp;
/* Database open omitted for clarity */
/* Get a cursor */
my_database->cursor(my_database, NULL, &cursorp, 0); When you are done with the cursor, you should close it. To close a cursor, call the DBC->close() method. Note that closing your database while cursors are still opened within the scope of the DB handle, especially if those cursors are writing to the database, can have unpredictable results. It is recommended that you close all cursor handles after their use to ensure concurrency and to release resources such as page locks.
#include <db.h>
...
DB *my_database;
DBC *cursorp;
/* Database and cursor open omitted for clarity */
if (cursorp != NULL)
cursorp->close(cursorp);
if (my_database != NULL)
my_database->close(my_database, 0);