CODEWITHSUNDEEP
databasedatabase-connection
JWL
JWL

Reputation: 14221

Why are Cursors called so in DB APIs?

I thought I'd ask this on some other SE site, but I failed to pick a best from all the candidates (SO, Programmers, SuperUser,...?), so am asking it here.

I've been using various DB APIs in various languages and stacks for now over 5 years, and I've never taken the trouble to think about it - why cursor objects in database apis are called that? Is it just culture? Tradition, something to do with state within an i/o stream? Blinking? Ha! someone ought to tell "us" please.

A good answer would be one that tries being language or stack agnostic, or one that references the historical or cultural origin (or whatever it is) that generally settles the matter.

And am serious about this!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 36

Answers (1)

usr
usr

Reputation: 171246

A cursor is not only a stream but a bidirectional stream. Cursors can also move backwards. And you can modify data through them. That makes them kind of a pointer to an element of a sequence of data. Maybe they got their name because a text cursor is very much like that. Or because "pointer" was already taken as a concept.

Upvotes: 3

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