How do I display the first letter as uppercase?

Question

I have fname and lname in my database, and a name could be stored as JOHN DOE or john DOE or JoHN dOE, but ultimately I want to display it as John Doe

fname being Jo

Answer 1

For simple names, this will work. Beware of special cases (like "Ronald McDonald" in the below example).

In SQL Server:

SELECT  --step 2: combine broken parts into a final name
  NAME_PARTS.FNAME_INITIAL + NAME_PARTS.REST_OF_FNAME AS FNAME
 ,NAME_PARTS.LNAME_INITIAL + NAME_PARTS.REST_OF_LNAME AS LNAME
FROM
  (     --step 1: break name into 1st letter and "everything else"
  SELECT
    UPPER(SUBSTRING(TEST.FNAME,1,1)) AS FNAME_INITIAL
   ,UPPER(SUBSTRING(TEST.LNAME,1,1)) AS LNAME_INITIAL
   ,LOWER(SUBSTRING(TEST.FNAME,2,LEN(TEST.FNAME))) AS REST_OF_FNAME
   ,LOWER(SUBSTRING(TEST.LNAME,2,LEN(TEST.LNAME))) AS REST_OF_LNAME
  FROM
    (   --step 0: generate some test data
          SELECT 'john' AS FNAME, 'doe' as LNAME
    UNION SELECT 'SUZY', 'SMITH'
    UNION SELECT 'bIlLy', 'BOb'
    UNION SELECT 'RoNALD', 'McDonald'
    UNION SELECT 'Edward', NULL
    UNION SELECT NULL, 'Jones'
    ) TEST
  ) NAME_PARTS

In Oracle

SELECT  --step 2: combine broken parts into a final name
  NAME_PARTS.FNAME_INITIAL || NAME_PARTS.REST_OF_FNAME AS FNAME
 ,NAME_PARTS.LNAME_INITIAL || NAME_PARTS.REST_OF_LNAME AS LNAME
FROM
  (     --step 1: break name into 1st letter and "everything else"
  SELECT
    UPPER(SUBSTR(TEST.FNAME,1,1)) AS FNAME_INITIAL
   ,UPPER(SUBSTR(TEST.LNAME,1,1)) AS LNAME_INITIAL
   ,LOWER(SUBSTR(TEST.FNAME,2,LENGTH(TEST.FNAME))) AS REST_OF_FNAME
   ,LOWER(SUBSTR(TEST.LNAME,2,LENGTH(TEST.LNAME))) AS REST_OF_LNAME
  FROM
    (   --step 0: generate some test data
          SELECT 'john' AS FNAME, 'doe' as LNAME FROM DUAL
    UNION SELECT 'SUZY', 'SMITH' FROM DUAL
    UNION SELECT 'bIlLy', 'BOb' FROM DUAL
    UNION SELECT 'RoNALD', 'McDonald' FROM DUAL
    UNION SELECT 'Edward', NULL FROM DUAL
    UNION SELECT NULL, 'Jones' FROM DUAL
    ) TEST
  ) NAME_PARTS