In MySQL, you can use the UPPER() function to convert any lowercase characters to uppercase. Alternatively, you can use the UCASE() function, which is a synonym for UPPER().

The syntax goes like this:

UPPER(str)

Or…

UCASE(str)

Where str is the string you want converted to uppercase.

Example

Here’s an example:

SELECT UPPER('homer');

Result:

+----------------+
| UPPER('homer') |
+----------------+
| HOMER          |
+----------------+

If the string already contains any uppercase characters, then they will remain uppercase.

Example:

SELECT UPPER('Homer');

Result:

+----------------+
| UPPER('Homer') |
+----------------+
| HOMER          |
+----------------+

Database Example

Here’s an example of selecting data from a database and converting it to uppercase:

USE Music;
SELECT 
    ArtistName AS Original, 
    UPPER(ArtistName) AS Uppercase
FROM Artists
LIMIT 5;

Result:

+------------------+------------------+
| Original         | Uppercase        |
+------------------+------------------+
| Iron Maiden      | IRON MAIDEN      |
| AC/DC            | AC/DC            |
| Allan Holdsworth | ALLAN HOLDSWORTH |
| Buddy Rich       | BUDDY RICH       |
| Devin Townsend   | DEVIN TOWNSEND   |
+------------------+------------------+

The LOWER() and LCASE() functions work the same way to convert characters to lowercase.