What is the use of a cursor in SQL Server?

cursor are used because in sub query we can fetch record row by row so we use cursor to fetch records

Example of cursor:

DECLARE @eName varchar(50), @job varchar(50)

DECLARE MynewCursor CURSOR -- Declare cursor name

FOR
Select eName, job FROM emp where deptno =10

OPEN MynewCursor -- open the cursor

FETCH NEXT FROM MynewCursor
INTO @eName, @job

PRINT @eName + ' ' + @job -- print the name

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0

BEGIN

FETCH NEXT FROM MynewCursor 
INTO @ename, @job

PRINT @eName +' ' + @job -- print the name

END

CLOSE MynewCursor

DEALLOCATE MynewCursor

OUTPUT:

ROHIT                           PRG  
jayesh                          PRG
Rocky                           prg
Rocky                           prg

Cursors are a mechanism to explicitly enumerate through the rows of a result set, rather than retrieving it as such.

However, while they may be more comfortable to use for programmers accustomed to writing While Not RS.EOF Do ..., they are typically a thing to be avoided within SQL Server stored procedures if at all possible -- if you can write a query without the use of cursors, you give the optimizer a much better chance to find a fast way to implement it.

In all honesty, I've never found a realistic use case for a cursor that couldn't be avoided, with the exception of a few administrative tasks such as looping over all indexes in the catalog and rebuilding them. I suppose they might have some uses in report generation or mail merges, but it's probably more efficient to do the cursor-like work in an application that talks to the database, letting the database engine do what it does best -- set manipulation.