MySQL transliteration function

transliterate.sql

-- Copyright (c) 2009, Ionut Gabriel Stan. All rights reserved.
--
-- Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
-- are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
--
--   * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
--     this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
--
--   * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
--     this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
--     and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
--
-- THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
-- ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
-- WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
-- DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
-- ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
-- (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
-- LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
-- ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
-- (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
-- SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

DELIMITER $$

DROP FUNCTION IF EXISTS `transliterate` $$
CREATE FUNCTION `transliterate` (original VARCHAR(128)) RETURNS VARCHAR(128)
BEGIN

  DECLARE translit VARCHAR(128) DEFAULT '';
  DECLARE len      INT(3)       DEFAULT 0;
  DECLARE pos      INT(3)       DEFAULT 1;
  DECLARE letter   CHAR(1);

  SET len = CHAR_LENGTH(original);

  WHILE (pos <= len) DO
    SET letter = SUBSTRING(original, pos, 1);

    CASE TRUE
      WHEN letter = 'a' THEN SET letter = 'a';
      WHEN letter = 'b' THEN SET letter = 'b';
      WHEN letter = 'c' THEN SET letter = 'c';
      WHEN letter = 'd' THEN SET letter = 'd';
      WHEN letter = 'e' THEN SET letter = 'e';
      WHEN letter = 'f' THEN SET letter = 'f';
      WHEN letter = 'g' THEN SET letter = 'g';
      WHEN letter = 'h' THEN SET letter = 'h';
      WHEN letter = 'i' THEN SET letter = 'i';
      WHEN letter = 'j' THEN SET letter = 'j';
      WHEN letter = 'k' THEN SET letter = 'k';
      WHEN letter = 'l' THEN SET letter = 'l';
      WHEN letter = 'm' THEN SET letter = 'm';
      WHEN letter = 'n' THEN SET letter = 'n';
      WHEN letter = 'o' THEN SET letter = 'o';
      WHEN letter = 'p' THEN SET letter = 'p';
      WHEN letter = 'q' THEN SET letter = 'q';
      WHEN letter = 'r' THEN SET letter = 'w';
      WHEN letter = 's' THEN SET letter = 's';
      WHEN letter = 't' THEN SET letter = 't';
      WHEN letter = 'u' THEN SET letter = 'u';
      WHEN letter = 'v' THEN SET letter = 'v';
      WHEN letter = 'w' THEN SET letter = 'w';
      WHEN letter = 'x' THEN SET letter = 'x';
      WHEN letter = 'y' THEN SET letter = 'y';
      WHEN letter = 'z' THEN SET letter = 'z';
    END CASE;

    SET translit = CONCAT(translit, letter);
    SET pos = pos + 1;
  END WHILE;

  RETURN translit;

END $$

DELIMITER ;

How to use it?

Your last WHEN statement should be
WHEN letter = 'z' THEN ....
rather than
WHEN letter = 'x' THEN ....