Academy

Unit 2 · Make Basics: Functions

Transforming Data - Text

6 min read Updated May 21, 2026

Unit introduction

You are now at the second unit of the “Transforming data using functions” course within Make Basics.

In the previous unit you learned about the function tabs in Make.

In this unit you will start your learning journey on transforming data and you will learn about the most common text functions in Make:

  • upper()
  • capitalize()
  • startcase()
  • lower()

Let’s begin!

Text functions

Make has several built-in functions that can help you modify the text data, for example, change the case or capitalization of your text.

You can find the text and binary functions in the mapping window (for example, when configuring a module like Google Sheets → Add a Row) or you can search for them manually in the “Search items” field.

You will cover the following functions in this course:

  • upper()
  • capitalize()
  • startcase()
  • lower()

By now, you should have set up your Google Sheet called “Basic Functions”. It would be great to open it now because in the next part you will work with each of the functions mentioned above. If you have not created it yet, go back to unit 1 of this course to set it up. Let’s get to it!

A pro tip

Before we get into use cases, we’ll briefly mention a tip when you map your functions.

Instead of drag and drop, you can also just type the function name with the opening parenthesis. For example when you type upper(, the function will pop up. Then close the parenthesis ) to close your function.

The function input is what comes inside the parenthesis ().

Check the image to see it in action. Now would be a good time to try it yourself too.

Exercise 1 - upper()

Let’s start with the text function upper(). The upper() function converts all alphabetical characters in a text string to uppercase.

To demonstrate different text and binary functions, you are going to set up a scenario which gets the current weather and sends it to a spreadsheet. Add the Weather - Get current weather module and enter your city as location. We have London, UK as our location.

Then add the Google Sheets - Add a row module. Map your Google Sheet module with the “Basic functions” spreadsheet you have previously set up. Add your “Basic functions” spreadsheet and “Text functions” as sheet name.

Alternatively, you can access a quick build of this scenario layout using [this ZIP file](link to ZIP file) or [this JSON code](link to JSON code) to get started.

Your table should contain headers. If you have not set them up already, now would be a good time to do it.

In your Google Sheets module, in the UPPER (A) column, map the upper() function. You can either drag and drop it or just click on it.

When mapping, notice also that most functions contain a brief description about what they do, plus an example. Simply hover over the function and the help tooltip will appear. This helps you understand each of the functions and decide which one you need for your specific case.

The upper() function will appear in the field with parentheses. The text you want to capitalize should come inside the parentheses. You can type the text on your own or map the item from the previous module. Here we chose the item Description from the Weather module, so the expression becomes upper(12.description).

Click OK to save your mapping and then click the Run once button to see what happens.

After running the scenario, the description output from the Weather module should all be in uppercase letters.

Open your Google Sheet to check it out! It should be similar to the one in the image. Bear in mind that your results might be different, depending on your selected location and the weather for the specific day.

Uppercase may be useful for headings and special situations, such as emphasis (for a word or phrase).

Common text functions

Let’s quickly go through three more text functions that you will use in this course.

capitalize()

The capitalize() function converts the first letter in a text string to uppercase. For example, “make” becomes “Make”.

This function might be handy for names. If your clients write their name in lowercase, you might want to convert the first letter to uppercase, which is the world standard for writing names. This function is also very useful for capitalizing the first word in sentences.

Keep in mind that it converts only the first character to uppercase, and it does not change the other ones.

startcase()

The startcase() function capitalizes the first letter of every word in a string, so “john doe” or “JOHN DOE” would become “John Doe”.

The startcase() function is also good for names - it capitalizes the first letter of every word and makes everything else lowercase. It might also be used for titles of songs or books for example, which are commonly written in this way.

lower()

The lower() function converts all the characters to lowercase, so “J.DOE@MAKE.COM” would become “j.doe@make.com”.

This might be useful for example for email addresses, if you want to make sure all the email addresses are written in lowercase. Lowercase is common in computer languages, SMS and instant messaging.

Exercise 2 – capitalize(), startcase(), lower()

Now that you know what each function does, let’s demonstrate it in practice.

You can use the same scenario as before. You can also use the same output text as before with the upper() function, just to see the difference between each text function.

In your Google Sheets module, map the following:

  • In Capitalize (B) column, insert the function capitalize().
  • In Startcase (C) column, insert the function startcase().
  • In Lower (D) column, insert the function lower().

In between the parentheses () insert the text you want to transform. Your mapping should look similar to capitalize(12.description), startcase(12.description), and lower(12.description). Make sure that the line ends with parentheses ).

Click OK to save your changes.

Now test the scenario by clicking Run once. When the scenario finishes executing, go to your Google Sheets spreadsheet to check the changes that happened there.

You should have new text data in your spreadsheet.

  • The text in the column A should be all in uppercase.
  • The text in the column B should have the first letter capitalized.
  • The text in the column C should have every first letter of every word capitalized.
  • The text in the column D should be all in lowercase.

There it is, now you can see the power of Make functions!

Text functions

Well done! Now you know how to use the most common text functions and what each of them does.

Here are some of the text and binary functions available:

  • length
  • lower
  • capitalize
  • startcase
  • ascii
  • replace
  • trim
  • upper
  • substring
  • indexOf
  • toBinary
  • toString
  • encodeURL
  • decodeURL
  • escapeHTML
  • escapeMarkdown
  • stripHTML
  • contains
  • split
  • md5
  • sha1
  • sha256
  • sha512
  • base64

And some useful keywords:

  • space
  • nbsp
  • tab
  • emptystring
  • newline
  • carriagereturn

There are plenty of other text functions in Make so feel free to explore on your own! The Make Help Centre is a good resource to help you out with this.