MySQL: Change case for compound names - mysql

Question

I have a dataset where names are in all uppercase, and need to convert them to proper case for reports. I found here in Stackoverflow the following code:
SET LastName = CONCAT(UPPER(SUBSTRING(LastName, 1, 1)),LOWER(SUBSTRING(LastName, 2)));
This works great for simple last names:
SMITH --> Smith
JONES --> Jones
But not so good for compound names:
VAN DYKE --> Van dyke
CARTER-SMITH --> Carter-smith
Has anyone developed some MySQL code that can do the following:
VAN DYKE --> Van Dyke
CARTER-SMITH --> Carter-Smith
I know that we will not be able to catch every possible situation, but I hope someone has at least tackled converting names that are separated by dashes or spaces.

Answer 1

I saw this problem on another site, check it out: http://www.thingy-ma-jig.co.uk/blog/30-09-2010/mysql-how-upper-case-words
He uses a function. So I hope you have the rights to create one.

Answer 2

You guys are so helpful! The answer I came up with was:
CREATE FUNCTION CAP_FIRST (input VARCHAR(255))
RETURNS VARCHAR(255)
DETERMINISTIC
BEGIN
DECLARE len INT;
DECLARE i INT;
SET len = CHAR_LENGTH(input);
SET input = LOWER(input);
SET i = 0;
WHILE (i < len) DO
IF (MID(input,i,1) = ' ' OR MID(input,i,1) = '-' OR i = 0) THEN
IF (i < len) THEN
SET input = CONCAT(
LEFT(input,i),
UPPER(MID(input,i + 1,1)),
RIGHT(input,len - i - 1)
);
END IF;
END IF;
SET i = i + 1;
END WHILE;
RETURN input;
END;
And it works beautifully!

Answer 3

You would think that the world’s most popular open source database, as MySQL like to call itself, would have a function for making items title case (where the first letter of every word is capitalized). Sadly it doesn’t.
This is the best solution i found Just create a stored procedure / function that will do the trick
mysql>
DROP FUNCTION IF EXISTS proper;
SET GLOBAL log_bin_trust_function_creators=TRUE;
DELIMITER |
CREATE FUNCTION proper( str VARCHAR(128) )
RETURNS VARCHAR(128)
BEGIN
DECLARE c CHAR(1);
DECLARE s VARCHAR(128);
DECLARE i INT DEFAULT 1;
DECLARE bool INT DEFAULT 1;
DECLARE punct CHAR(17) DEFAULT ' ()[]{},.-_!#;:?/';
SET s = LCASE( str );
WHILE i <= LENGTH( str ) DO
BEGIN
SET c = SUBSTRING( s, i, 1 );
IF LOCATE( c, punct ) > 0 THEN
SET bool = 1;
ELSEIF bool=1 THEN
BEGIN
IF c >= 'a' AND c <= 'z' THEN
BEGIN
SET s = CONCAT(LEFT(s,i-1),UCASE(c),SUBSTRING(s,i+1));
SET bool = 0;
END;
ELSEIF c >= '0' AND c <= '9' THEN
SET bool = 0;
END IF;
END;
END IF;
SET i = i+1;
END;
END WHILE;
RETURN s;
END;
|
DELIMITER ;
then
update table set LastName = properword(LastName)
or
select proper( LastName ) as properLastName
from table