Amazon Redshift will no longer support the creation of new Python UDFs starting Patch 198. Existing Python UDFs will continue to function until June 30, 2026. For more information, see the [ blog post ](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/big-data/amazon-redshift-python-user-defined-functions-will-reach-end-of-support-after-june-30-2026/). 

# UPPER function
<a name="r_UPPER"></a>

Converts a string to uppercase. UPPER supports UTF-8 multibyte characters, up to a maximum of four bytes per character.

## Syntax
<a name="r_UPPER-synopsis"></a>

```
UPPER(string)
```

## Arguments
<a name="r_UPPER-arguments"></a>

 *string*   
The input parameter is a `VARCHAR` string or any other data type, such as `CHAR`, that can be implicitly converted to `VARCHAR`. 

## Return type
<a name="r_UPPER-return-type"></a>

The UPPER function returns a character string that is the same data type as the input string. For example, the function will return a `VARCHAR` string if the input is a `VARCHAR` string.

## Examples
<a name="r_UPPER-examples"></a>

The following example uses data from the CATEGORY table in the TICKIT sample database. For more information, see [Sample database](c_sampledb.md). 

To convert the CATNAME field to uppercase, use the following. 

```
SELECT catname, UPPER(catname) 
FROM category 
ORDER BY 1,2;

+-----------+-----------+
|  catname  |   upper   |
+-----------+-----------+
| Classical | CLASSICAL |
| Jazz      | JAZZ      |
| MLB       | MLB       |
| MLS       | MLS       |
| Musicals  | MUSICALS  |
| NBA       | NBA       |
| NFL       | NFL       |
| NHL       | NHL       |
| Opera     | OPERA     |
| Plays     | PLAYS     |
| Pop       | POP       |
+-----------+-----------+
```