Difference between Cursor and Ref Cursor in Oracle APPS

• A normal PL/SQL cursor is static in definition. Ref cursors may be dynamically opened based on some logic.
• A cursor cannot be returned to a client. A Ref cursor can be returned to a client.
• A cursor can be Global. A ref cursor cannot be Global.
• A ref cursor can be passed from subroutine to subroutine. A cursor cannot be passed from subroutine.
• Static SQL i.e. not using a Ref cursor is much more efficient then using ref cursors.