___________ is a database object that represents a result set and is used to manipulate data row by row

The answer to your question is a "cursor."

A cursor is a database object used in SQL and various database management systems that allows for the retrieval and manipulation of rows in a result set one at a time. This is particularly useful for operations where you need to process individual rows returned from a query, such as performing updates, deletes, or complex computations that involve iterating through the data. By using a cursor, you gain more control over the data retrieval process compared to standard queries that return all results at once. Cursors can be either implicit or explicit, depending on how they are defined and used in the code.