syntax error on DECLARE CURSOR FOR
mysql, stored-procedures
Solution
Declarations have to be right after a `BEGIN` block. In your case just move the `DECLARE cur1 CURSOR` and `DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER..` two lines up.
Sometimes you want to declare a variable or cursor later in the code, for example only, if a condition is met.
In this case you can wrap the block with a nested `BEGIN .. END` again.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/begin-end.html and http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/declare.html
`DECLARE` is permitted only inside a `BEGIN ... END` compound statement and must be at its start, before any other statements.
Also you are declaring `CUR1` but using `cur1`.
Problem
I dont't understand why im getting syntax error on my sp code below. Can anyone help me figure this out? SQL Error (1064): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'DECLARE CUR1 CURSOR FOR SELECT pc.prospectus_courses_id FROM prereq_cou' at line 8 ``` DELIMITER $$ DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS get_prereqs3$$ CREATE PROCEDURE get_prereqs3(IN prosp_courses_id SMALLINT(5)) BEGIN DECLARE done int DEFAULT FALSE; DECLARE required SMALLINT(5) default 0; DECLARE to_search SMALLINT(5) default 0; DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tmp_list; CREATE TABLE tmp_list(courses_id SMALLINT(5), courses_id_req SMALLINT(5)) ENGINE = MEMORY; DECLARE CUR1 CURSOR FOR SELECT pc.prospectus_courses_id FROM prereq_courses pc JOIN prerequisites pr on (pr.id = pc.prerequisites_id) JOIN prospectus_courses ps on (ps.id = pr.prospectus_courses_id) WHERE ps.id = to_search MAIN_LOOP: LOOP DECLARE CONTINUE HANDLER FOR NOT FOUND SET done = TRUE; OPEN cur1; FETCH cur1 INTO required; IF done THEN CLOSE cur1; LEAVE main_loop; ELSE insert into tmp_list values (to_search, required); set to_search = required; iterate main_loop; END IF; END LOOP; select c.course_code from tmp_list t join prospectus_courses pc on pc.id = t.courses_id_req join courses c on c.id = pc.courses_id ; drop table tmp_list; END$$ DELIMITER ; ```