NLS_INITCAP

Syntax

nls_initcap::=

Text description of nls_initcap

Purpose

NLS_INITCAP returns char, with 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.

Both char and nlsparam can be any of the datatypes CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2. The string returned is of VARCHAR2 datatype and is in the same character set as char.

The value of nlsparam can have this form:

'NLS_SORT = sort'

where sort is either a linguistic sort sequence or BINARY. The linguistic sort sequence handles special linguistic requirements for case conversions. These requirements can result in a return value of a different length than the char. If you omit nlsparam, this function uses the default sort sequence for your session.

Note: This function does not support CLOB data directly. However, CLOBs can be passed in as arguments through implicit data conversion. Please refer to "Datatype Comparison Rules" for more information.

Example

The following examples show how the linguistic sort sequence results in a different return value from the function:

SELECT NLS_INITCAP
   ('ijsland') "InitCap" FROM DUAL;

InitCap
-------
Ijsland

SELECT NLS_INITCAP
   ('ijsland', 'NLS_SORT = XDutch') "InitCap"
   FROM DUAL;

InitCap
-------
IJsland

See Also: Oracle9i Globalization Support Guide for information on sort sequences