In the first example, the Row is in scope. In the second it is not. The third usage
is rather odd; I'm not suprised it doesn't work -- cursors have a lifetime, after all.
Have you tried extracting the data while the row was in scope? That is the expected
use pattern.
A gigabyte text field, while legal, isn't likely to be the most efficient way to
manage data.
BTW: At five months since release, you really ought to be using the v1.3 release.
- V