Provided by: postgresql-client-15_15.2-1_amd64 
NAME
FETCH - retrieve rows from a query using a cursor
SYNOPSIS
FETCH [ direction ] [ FROM | IN ] cursor_name
where direction can be one of:
NEXT
PRIOR
FIRST
LAST
ABSOLUTE count
RELATIVE count
count
ALL
FORWARD
FORWARD count
FORWARD ALL
BACKWARD
BACKWARD count
BACKWARD ALL
DESCRIPTION
FETCH retrieves rows using a previously-created cursor.
A cursor has an associated position, which is used by FETCH. The cursor position can be
before the first row of the query result, on any particular row of the result, or after
the last row of the result. When created, a cursor is positioned before the first row.
After fetching some rows, the cursor is positioned on the row most recently retrieved. If
FETCH runs off the end of the available rows then the cursor is left positioned after the
last row, or before the first row if fetching backward. FETCH ALL or FETCH BACKWARD ALL
will always leave the cursor positioned after the last row or before the first row.
The forms NEXT, PRIOR, FIRST, LAST, ABSOLUTE, RELATIVE fetch a single row after moving the
cursor appropriately. If there is no such row, an empty result is returned, and the cursor
is left positioned before the first row or after the last row as appropriate.
The forms using FORWARD and BACKWARD retrieve the indicated number of rows moving in the
forward or backward direction, leaving the cursor positioned on the last-returned row (or
after/before all rows, if the count exceeds the number of rows available).
RELATIVE 0, FORWARD 0, and BACKWARD 0 all request fetching the current row without moving
the cursor, that is, re-fetching the most recently fetched row. This will succeed unless
the cursor is positioned before the first row or after the last row; in which case, no row
is returned.
Note
This page describes usage of cursors at the SQL command level. If you are trying to
use cursors inside a PL/pgSQL function, the rules are different — see Section 43.7.3.
PARAMETERS
direction
direction defines the fetch direction and number of rows to fetch. It can be one of
the following:
NEXT
Fetch the next row. This is the default if direction is omitted.
PRIOR
Fetch the prior row.
FIRST
Fetch the first row of the query (same as ABSOLUTE 1).
LAST
Fetch the last row of the query (same as ABSOLUTE -1).
ABSOLUTE count
Fetch the count'th row of the query, or the abs(count)'th row from the end if
count is negative. Position before first row or after last row if count is out of
range; in particular, ABSOLUTE 0 positions before the first row.
RELATIVE count
Fetch the count'th succeeding row, or the abs(count)'th prior row if count is
negative. RELATIVE 0 re-fetches the current row, if any.
count
Fetch the next count rows (same as FORWARD count).
ALL
Fetch all remaining rows (same as FORWARD ALL).
FORWARD
Fetch the next row (same as NEXT).
FORWARD count
Fetch the next count rows. FORWARD 0 re-fetches the current row.
FORWARD ALL
Fetch all remaining rows.
BACKWARD
Fetch the prior row (same as PRIOR).
BACKWARD count
Fetch the prior count rows (scanning backwards). BACKWARD 0 re-fetches the
current row.
BACKWARD ALL
Fetch all prior rows (scanning backwards).
count
count is a possibly-signed integer constant, determining the location or number of
rows to fetch. For FORWARD and BACKWARD cases, specifying a negative count is
equivalent to changing the sense of FORWARD and BACKWARD.
cursor_name
An open cursor's name.
OUTPUTS
On successful completion, a FETCH command returns a command tag of the form
FETCH count
The count is the number of rows fetched (possibly zero). Note that in psql, the command
tag will not actually be displayed, since psql displays the fetched rows instead.
NOTES
The cursor should be declared with the SCROLL option if one intends to use any variants of
FETCH other than FETCH NEXT or FETCH FORWARD with a positive count. For simple queries
PostgreSQL will allow backwards fetch from cursors not declared with SCROLL, but this
behavior is best not relied on. If the cursor is declared with NO SCROLL, no backward
fetches are allowed.
ABSOLUTE fetches are not any faster than navigating to the desired row with a relative
move: the underlying implementation must traverse all the intermediate rows anyway.
Negative absolute fetches are even worse: the query must be read to the end to find the
last row, and then traversed backward from there. However, rewinding to the start of the
query (as with FETCH ABSOLUTE 0) is fast.
DECLARE is used to define a cursor. Use MOVE to change cursor position without retrieving
data.
EXAMPLES
The following example traverses a table using a cursor:
BEGIN WORK;
-- Set up a cursor:
DECLARE liahona SCROLL CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM films;
-- Fetch the first 5 rows in the cursor liahona:
FETCH FORWARD 5 FROM liahona;
code | title | did | date_prod | kind | len
-------+-------------------------+-----+------------+----------+-------
BL101 | The Third Man | 101 | 1949-12-23 | Drama | 01:44
BL102 | The African Queen | 101 | 1951-08-11 | Romantic | 01:43
JL201 | Une Femme est une Femme | 102 | 1961-03-12 | Romantic | 01:25
P_301 | Vertigo | 103 | 1958-11-14 | Action | 02:08
P_302 | Becket | 103 | 1964-02-03 | Drama | 02:28
-- Fetch the previous row:
FETCH PRIOR FROM liahona;
code | title | did | date_prod | kind | len
-------+---------+-----+------------+--------+-------
P_301 | Vertigo | 103 | 1958-11-14 | Action | 02:08
-- Close the cursor and end the transaction:
CLOSE liahona;
COMMIT WORK;
COMPATIBILITY
The SQL standard defines FETCH for use in embedded SQL only. The variant of FETCH
described here returns the data as if it were a SELECT result rather than placing it in
host variables. Other than this point, FETCH is fully upward-compatible with the SQL
standard.
The FETCH forms involving FORWARD and BACKWARD, as well as the forms FETCH count and FETCH
ALL, in which FORWARD is implicit, are PostgreSQL extensions.
The SQL standard allows only FROM preceding the cursor name; the option to use IN, or to
leave them out altogether, is an extension.
SEE ALSO
CLOSE(7), DECLARE(7), MOVE(7)