Format a string such that the first character is upper case and the rest are lower case

str_proper.R

# a function to format strings
# to be in Proper case
str_proper <- function(string) {
  # get the first letter
  first_letter = substring(string, first = 1, last = 1)
  
  # get the other letters
  other_letters = substring(string, first = 2)
  
  # combine the first letter (upper case)
  # with the other leters (lower case)
  paste0(toupper(first_letter),
         tolower(other_letters))
}