Hi Noah,
This is Velocity in a nutshell (and don't get me wrong, I love it, it's just quirky): flexible when you don't need it to be, and strict when you don't expect it!
When Velocity calls deep enough into the outer Java environment, you can get error conditions where you might've thought Velo would let you slide.
A prime example is when you try to take the substring of an existing variable that is empty, with any index other than 0:
#set( $a = "" )
$!{b.substring(0,1)} <-- no error!
$!{a.startsWith("ABCDE")} <-- no error!
$!{a.substring(0,1)} <-- error!
Note how calling substring() on the nonexistent variable $b doesn't cause an error, but the substring on existing-but-empty $a is an error. This is what I mean by the flexible vs. strict dichotomy being kind of surprising.
To avoid this error, wrap in isEmpty():
#if( !$name.isEmpty() )
${name.substring(0,1).toUpperCase()}${name.substring(1).toLowerCase()}
#end
Also see my comments here, and if you're getting into VTL in Marketo you should read and/or subscribe to my blog, if I do say so. See my VTL posts at http://blog.teknkl.com/tag/velocity.
Oh, and also it's almost always better to open a new thread (you can link back to an old one for reference). Old threads can never be closed by anyone but the OP, and more than one answer can never be marked Correct.
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