/*! @m_page{{c,java},cursor_ops,Cursor operations}

Common operations in WiredTiger are performed using WT_CURSOR handles.
A cursor includes:

- a position within a data source
- getter/setters for key and value fields
- encoding of fields to store in the data source
- methods to navigate within and iterate through the data

@section cursor_opening Opening a cursor

Cursors are created using the WT_SESSION::open_cursor method.  For
example, from the program @ex_ref{ex_cursor.c}:

@snippet ex_cursor.c open cursor #1

Another example from the same program:

@snippet ex_cursor.c open cursor #2

In addition to traditional data sources, cursors in WiredTiger are used
to access projections and even created data sources such as the run-time
statistics:

@snippet ex_cursor.c open cursor #3

See @ref cursors for more information on available cursor types.

@section cursor_closing Closing a cursor

Cursors remain open until either WT_CURSOR::close is called or the cursor's
session is closed, which may either be in WT_SESSION::close or
WT_CONNECTION::close.

@section cursor_position Positioning a cursor

Cursors may be positioned at the beginning of the data source, the end of
the data source, at an exact key within the data source, and near a key
within the data source.

To invalidate the position of a cursor so that subsequent iterations start
from the beginning or end of the data source, use the WT_CURSOR::reset method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor reset

To move a cursor forward in the data source, use the cursor WT_CURSOR::next
method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor next

If the WT_CURSOR::next method is called on a cursor without a position
in the data source, it is positioned at the beginning of the data source.

To move a cursor backward in the data source, use the cursor WT_CURSOR::prev
method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor prev

If the WT_CURSOR::prev method is called on a cursor without a position
in the data source, it is positioned at the end of the data source.

To position a cursor at a specific location in the data source, use the
WT_CURSOR::search method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor search

To position a cursor at or near a location in the data source, use the
WT_CURSOR::search_near method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor search near

Cursor positions do not survive transactions: cursors that are open during
WT_SESSION::begin_transaction, WT_SESSION::commit_transaction or
WT_SESSION::rollback_transaction will lose their position as if
WT_CURSOR::reset was called.

Cursors can be configured to move to a random position with WT_CURSOR::next
is called, see @subpage cursor_random for details.

@section cursor_writes Inserting and updating

To insert new data, and optionally update existing data, using a cursor,
use the WT_CURSOR::insert method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor insert

To update existing data using a cursor, use the WT_CURSOR::update method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor update

To remove existing data using a cursor, use the WT_CURSOR::remove method:

@snippet ex_cursor.c cursor remove

The WT_SESSION::open_cursor \c overwrite configuration is \c true by default,
causing WT_CURSOR::insert, WT_CURSOR::remove and WT_CURSOR::update to ignore
the current state of the record, and these methods will succeed regardless of
whether or not the record previously exists.

When an application configures \c overwrite to \c false, WT_CURSOR::insert will
fail with ::WT_DUPLICATE_KEY if the record previously exists, and
WT_CURSOR::update and WT_CURSOR::remove will fail with ::WT_NOTFOUND if the
record does not previously exist.

@section cursor_error Cursor position after error

After any cursor handle method failure, the cursor's position is
undetermined.  For cursor operations that expect a key to be set before the
operation begins (including WT_CURSOR::search, WT_CURSOR::insert,
WT_CURSOR::update and WT_CURSOR::remove), the application's key and value
will not be cleared by an error.

Applications that cannot re-position the cursor after failure must
duplicate the cursor by calling WT_SESSION::open_cursor and passing the
cursor as the \c to_dup parameter before calling a cursor method that will
attempt to re-position the cursor.  Cursor duplication is not supported
for the backup, config and statistics cursor types.

@section cursor_memory_scoping Cursor key/value memory scoping

When applications pass pointers to WT_CURSOR::set_key or WT_CURSOR::set_value,
which can be a WT_ITEM or a string, the application is required to keep
the memory valid until the next operation that successfully positions
the cursor.  These operations are WT_CURSOR::remove, WT_CURSOR::search,
WT_CURSOR::search_near and WT_CURSOR::update, but <b>do not include</b>
WT_CURSOR::insert, as it does not position the cursor.

If such an operation fails (for example, due to a ::WT_ROLLBACK error),
it may be retried without calling WT_CURSOR::set_key or
WT_CURSOR::set_value again.  That is, the cursor may still reference the
application-supplied memory until it is successfully positioned.

@m_if{c}
Any pointers returned by WT_CURSOR::get_key or WT_CURSOR::get_value are only
valid until the cursor is positioned.  These pointers may reference private
WiredTiger data structures that must not be modified or freed by the
application.  If a longer scope is required, the application must make a copy
of the memory before the cursor is positioned.

The comments in this example code explain when the application can safely
modify memory passed to WT_CURSOR::set_key or WT_CURSOR::set_value:

@snippet ex_scope.c cursor scope operation
@m_endif
 */
