Synopsis

Values:TRUE or FALSE

Default:FALSE

Controls how Oracle uses memory to store cursors. If the value of CURSOR_SPACE_FOR_TIME is TRUE, the database saves time by using more space for cursors. Shared SQL areas are kept pinned in the shared pool when this parameter is set to TRUE. As a result, shared SQL areas are not aged out of the pool as long as there is an open cursor that references them.

This increases execution speed, since each active cursor’s SQL area is present in memory. However, because the shared SQL areas never leave memory while they are in use, this parameter should be set to TRUE only when the shared pool is large enough to hold all open cursors at the same time. Setting this parameter to TRUE also retains each cursor’s private SQL area between executes instead of discarding it after cursor execution, thus saving cursor allocation and initialization time.