FAST_FORWARD Cursor in SQL Server

The SQL FAST_FORWARD Cursor is one of the fastest cursors we have. This SQL FAST_FORWARD Cursor is a combination of FORWARD_ONLY, and READ_ONLY. It means the FAST_FORWARD cursor will only move from the first row to last and does not support the scrolling backward.

For this Create a FAST_FORWARD Cursor in SQL Server example, we use the below-shown Employee table that holds 14 records

Fast_Forward Cursor in SQL Server Example

In this example, we show you how to declare and open a fast_forward cursor. And, we will use the different FETCH option to demonstrate the supporting fetch options.

-- SQL FAST_FORWARD Cursor Example

DECLARE fast_forward_employee_cursor CURSOR FAST_FORWARD
    FOR SELECT * FROM [EmployeeTable]
OPEN fast_forward_employee_cursor  
FETCH NEXT FROM fast_forward_employee_cursor;

Below statement will declare the fast_forward cursor called fast_forward_employee_cursor for all the records in Employee table

DECLARE fast_forward_employee_cursor CURSOR FAST_FORWARD
    FOR SELECT * FROM [EmployeeTable]

Next, we use the OPEN Cursor statement to open the declared cursor

OPEN fast_forward_employee_cursor

The last statement will fetch, or return the next record from the fast_forward_employee_cursor cursor.

FETCH NEXT FROM fast_forward_employee_cursor;

Although the employee table has 14 rows, this cursor is retrieving 1 record. This is because, SQL Server FETCH NEXT option will fetch only one record from the cursor, and if you want all then use Loops.

Next, we used the FETCH PRIOR option. As you can see, this is throwing an error.

Let me use the FETCH LAST option.

Let me use the FETCH FIRST option.

Please refer to FORWARD_ONLY Cursor article.