Oracle INITCAP function

Last update on August 05 2024 10:33:54 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Description

The Oracle INITCAP() function sets the first letter of each word in uppercase, all other letters in lowercase. Words are delimited by white space or characters that are not alphanumeric.

Uses of Oracle INITCAP Function

Standardizing Names: Ensures consistent capitalization of names and titles.

Formatting Text: Converts text to a standard format with capitalized words.

Improving Readability: Enhances the readability of user-generated text by standardizing the capitalization.

Data Cleaning: Helps in cleaning and normalizing data by correcting inconsistent letter cases.

Generating Reports: Produces consistently formatted text for reports and presentations.

Syntax:

INITCAP(string1)

Parameters:

Name	Description	Data Types
string1	A string whose first character in each word will be converted to uppercase and the rest characters will be converted to lowercase.	CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, NVARCHAR2, CLOB, or NCLOB

Return Value Type:

CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, NVARCHAR2, CLOB, or NCLOB

Note: For linguistic-sensitive uppercase and lowercase, refer to NLS_INITCAP.

Applies to:

Oracle 12c, Oracle 11g, Oracle 10g, Oracle 9i, Oracle 8i

Pictorial Presentation

Examples: Oracle INITCAP function

The following example capitalizes each word in the string:

SQL> SELECT INITCAP('steven king') "Emp. Name"  
FROM DUAL;

Output :

Emp. Name
-----------
Steven King

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