MariaDB LOWER() Function

In MariaDB, LOWER() is a built-in string function that converts the given string parameter to lowercase and returns it.

MariaDB LOWER() is an alias for LCASE().

If you want to convert a string to uppercase, use the UCASE() or UPPER().

MariaDB LOWER() Syntax

Here is the syntax of the MariaDB LOWER() function:

LOWER(str)

Parameters

str

Required. The string to be processed.

If you do not provide a parameter, MariaDB will report an error: ERROR 1582 (42000): Incorrect parameter count in the call to native function 'LOWER'.

Return value

The LOWER(str) function returns the lowercase version of the specified string.

The LOWER() function returns NULL if the argument str is NULL.

NOTE: LOWER() does not work with binary strings.

MariaDB LOWER() Examples

Basic example

This statement shows the basic usage of the MariaDB LOWER() function:

SELECT LOWER('Hello'), LOWER(NULL);

Output:

+----------------+--------------------------+
| LOWER('Hello') | LOWER(NULL)              |
+----------------+--------------------------+
| hello          | NULL                     |
+----------------+--------------------------+

Here, the LOWER() function will return NULL if the argument is NULL.

Database example

This statement displays the first_name column from the actor table in the Sakila sample database as lowercase:

SELECT LOWER(first_name) `First Name`
FROM actor
LIMIT 5;

Output:

+------------+
| First Name |
+------------+
| penelope   |
| nick       |
| ed         |
| jennifer   |
| johnny     |
+------------+

Conclusion

The MariaDB LOWER() function converts a string to lowercase.