Categories:

String & binary functions (Case Conversion)

INITCAP

Returns the input string with the first letter of each word in uppercase and the subsequent letters in lowercase.

Syntax

INITCAP( <expr> [ , '<delimiters>' ] )
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Arguments

expr

The string expression.

'delimiters'

A string of one or more characters that INITCAP uses as separators for words in the input expression:

  • If delimiters isn’t specified, any of the following characters in the input expressions are treated as word separators:

    <whitespace> ! ? @ " ^ # $ & ~ _ , . : ; + - * % / | \ [ ] ( ) { } < >

  • If delimiters is specified, the specified value overrides all of the characters listed above.

Supports any UTF-8 characters, including whitespace characters, and is case-sensitive.

Must be enclosed in single quotes, for example ', ' (delimiters in this example are , and blank spaces).

When specified as an empty string (that is, ''), INITCAP ignores all delimiters, including whitespace characters, in the input expression. The input expression is treated as a single, continuous word. The resulting output is a string with the first character capitalized (if the first character is a letter) and all other letters in lowercase.

Returns

This function returns a value of type VARCHAR.

Collation details

Arguments with collation specifications are currently not supported.

Examples

This example provides various outputs in different languages using the default delimiters:

SELECT v, INITCAP(v) FROM testinit;
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+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| C1                              | INITCAP(C1)                     |
|---------------------------------+---------------------------------|
| The Quick Gray Fox              | The Quick Gray Fox              |
| the sky is blue                 | The Sky Is Blue                 |
| OVER the River 2 Times          | Over The River 2 Times          |
| WE CAN HANDLE THIS              | We Can Handle This              |
| HelL0_hi+therE                  | Hell0_Hi+There                  |
| νησί του ποταμού                | Νησί Του Ποταμού                |
| ÄäÖößÜü                         | Ääöößüü                         |
| Hi,are?you!there                | Hi,Are?You!There                |
| to je dobré                     | To Je Dobré                     |
| ÉéÀàè]çÂâ ÊêÎÔô ÛûËÏ ïÜŸÇç ŒœÆæ | Ééààè]Çââ Êêîôô Ûûëï Ïüÿçç Œœææ |
| ĄąĆ ćĘęŁ łŃńÓ óŚśŹźŻż           | Ąąć Ćęęł Łńńó Óśśźźżż           |
| АаБб ВвГгД дЕеЁёЖ жЗзИиЙй       | Аабб Ввггд Дееёёж Жззиийй       |
| ХхЦц ЧчШш ЩщЪъ ЫыЬь ЭэЮ юЯя     | Ххцц Ччшш Щщъъ Ыыьь Ээю Юяя     |
| NULL                            | NULL                            |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+

These examples specify delimiters using the delimiters argument:

SELECT INITCAP('this is the new Frame+work', '') AS initcap_result;
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+----------------------------+
| INITCAP_RESULT             |
|----------------------------|
| This is the new frame+work |
+----------------------------+

SELECT INITCAP('iqamqinterestedqinqthisqtopic','q') AS initcap_result;
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+-------------------------------+
| INITCAP_RESULT                |
|-------------------------------|
| IqAmqInterestedqInqThisqTopic |
+-------------------------------+

SELECT INITCAP('lion☂fRog potato⨊cLoUD', '⨊☂') AS initcap_result;
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+------------------------+
| INITCAP_RESULT         |
|------------------------|
| Lion☂Frog potato⨊Cloud |
+------------------------+

SELECT INITCAP('apple is僉sweetandballIsROUND', '僉a b') AS initcap_result;
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+-------------------------------+
| INITCAP_RESULT                |
|-------------------------------|
| aPple Is僉SweetaNdbaLlisround |
+-------------------------------+
Language: English