INITCAP

Description

The INITCAP function converts the first letter of each word in a string to uppercase and the remaining letters to lowercase. A word is defined as a sequence of alphanumeric characters separated by non-alphanumeric characters. This function is suitable for formatting names, titles, and other scenarios requiring standard case formatting.

Syntax

INITCAP(<str>)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<str>	The string to convert case format. Type: VARCHAR

Return Value

Returns VARCHAR type, representing the converted string.

Conversion rules:

• The first letter of each word is converted to uppercase
• Remaining letters in the word are converted to lowercase
• Words are separated by non-alphanumeric characters (spaces, punctuation, symbols, etc.)
• Numeric characters are not case-converted
• Supports Unicode character case conversion

Special cases:

• If parameter is NULL, returns NULL
• If string is empty, returns empty string
• Consecutive non-alphanumeric characters are treated as a single separator
• Letters at the beginning of the string are capitalized

Examples

1. Basic word capitalization

SELECT INITCAP('hello world');

+------------------------+
| INITCAP('hello world') |
+------------------------+
| Hello World            |
+------------------------+

2. Mixed case conversion

SELECT INITCAP('hELLo WoRLD');

+------------------------+
| INITCAP('hELLo WoRLD') |
+------------------------+
| Hello World            |
+------------------------+

3. NULL value handling

SELECT INITCAP(NULL);

+---------------+
| INITCAP(NULL) |
+---------------+
| NULL          |
+---------------+

4. String with numbers and symbols

SELECT INITCAP('hello hello.,HELLO123HELlo');

+---------------------------------------+
| INITCAP('hello hello.,HELLO123HELlo') |
+---------------------------------------+
| Hello Hello.,Hello123hello            |
+---------------------------------------+

5. Empty string

SELECT INITCAP('');

+-------------+
| INITCAP('') |
+-------------+
|             |
+-------------+

6. Multiple non-alphanumeric separators

SELECT INITCAP('word1@word2#word3$word4');

+------------------------------------+
| INITCAP('word1@word2#word3$word4') |
+------------------------------------+
| Word1@Word2#Word3$Word4            |
+------------------------------------+

7. UTF-8 multi-byte words

SELECT INITCAP('ṭṛì ḍḍumai hello');

+--------------------------------------+
| INITCAP('ṭṛì ḍḍumai hello')          |
+--------------------------------------+
| Ṭṛì Ḍḍumai Hello                     |
+--------------------------------------+

8. Common name capitalization

SELECT INITCAP('john doe'), INITCAP('MARY JANE');

+---------------------+----------------------+
| INITCAP('john doe') | INITCAP('MARY JANE') |
+---------------------+----------------------+
| John Doe            | Mary Jane            |
+---------------------+----------------------+

9. Sentences with mixed casing

SELECT INITCAP('the quick brown fox'), INITCAP('DATABASE management SYSTEM');

+--------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| INITCAP('the quick brown fox') | INITCAP('DATABASE management SYSTEM') |
+--------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| The Quick Brown Fox            | Database Management System            |
+--------------------------------+---------------------------------------+

10. Multiple spaces and adjacent punctuation

SELECT INITCAP('word1   word2--word3'), INITCAP('hello, world! how are you?');

+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| INITCAP('word1   word2--word3') | INITCAP('hello, world! how are you?') |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| Word1   Word2--Word3            | Hello, World! How Are You?            |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------+