Subset of INSERT Statement with a Sequential Cursor

As indicated in the diagram for DECLARE statement, to create an Insert cursor, you associate a sequential cursor with a restricted form of the INSERT statement. The INSERT statement must include a VALUES clause; it cannot contain an embedded SELECT statement.

The following example contains code that declares an Insert cursor: 
EXEC SQL declare ins_cur cursor for
   insert into stock values
   (:stock_no,:manu_code,:descr,:u_price,:unit,:u_desc);

The Insert cursor simply inserts rows of data; it cannot be used to fetch data. When an Insert cursor is opened, a buffer is created in memory. The buffer receives rows of data as the program executes PUT statements. The rows are written to disk only when the buffer is full. You can flush the buffer (that is, to write its contents into the database) when it is less than full, using the CLOSE, FLUSH, or COMMIT WORK statements. This topic is discussed further under the CLOSE, FLUSH, and PUT statements.

You must close an Insert cursor to insert any buffered rows into the database before the program ends. You can lose data if you do not close the cursor properly. For a complete description of INSERT syntax and usage, see INSERT statement.