PHP - ucwords() Function

---

---

The PHP ucwords() function is used to convert (or capitalize) the first character of each word in a string to uppercase. The term "uppercase" refers to capital letters in the alphabet such as A, B, C, and Z. For example, if we have a string "hello", then the resultant string will be "Hello".

If the first letter of each word is already in uppercase, the resultant string remains unchanged.

The function ucwords stands for "uppercase words.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the PHP ucwords() function −

ucwords(string $str, string $sep = " \t\r\n\f\v"): string

Parameters

This function accepts a single parameter, which is described below −

• string − The input string.
• sep (optional) − The separators contains the word separator characters.

Return value

This function returns the modified string, with the first character of each word in uppercase.

Example 1

The following is a basic example of the PHP ucwords() function −

<?php
   $str = "tutorials point";
   echo "The given string is: $str";
   echo "\nThe modified string: ";
   #using ucwords() function
   echo ucwords($str);
?>

Output

The above program produces the following output −

The given string is: tutorials point
The modified string: Tutorials Point

Example 2

Following is another example of the PHP ucwords() function. We use this function to convert the first character in each word to uppercase in the given string "hELLO wORLD" −

<?php
   $str = "hELLO wORLD";
   echo "The given string is: $str";
   echo "\nThe modified string: ";
   #using ucwords() function
   echo ucwords($str);
?>

Output

After executing the above program, the following output will be displayed −

The given string is: hELLO wORLD
The modified string: HELLO WORLD

Example 3

If an optional parameter sep is passed to this function, it will use that separator to join the words after converting the first letter of each word to uppercase −

<?php
   $str = "hey|how|are|you";
   echo "The given string is: $str";
   $sep = "|";
   echo "\nThe given separator: $sep";
   echo "\nThe modified string: ";
   # Using ucwords() function
echo ucwords($str, $sep);
?>

Output

Following is the output of the above program −

The given string is: hey|how|are|you
The given separator: |
The modified string: Hey|How|Are|You

Example 4

If the optional parameter (separator) is omitted and the given string contains separator characters, this function will only convert the first letter of the first word to "uppercase" −

<?php
   $str = "welcome-to-tp";
   echo "The given string is: $str";
   echo "\nThe modified string: ";
   # Using ucwords() function
   echo ucwords($str);
?>

Output

On executing the above program, it generates the following output −

The given string is: welcome-to-tp
The modified string: Welcome-to-tp

Example 5

If the first character in each word is "already" in uppercase, the string will not be affected, and the same string will be returned −

<?php
   $str = "Hey! John";
   echo "The given string is: $str";
   echo "\nThe modified string: ";
   #using ucwords() function
   echo ucwords($str);
?>

Output

Following is the output of the above program −

The given string is: Hey! John
The modified string: Hey! John