LTRIM( ) function
Returns a string with leading spaces removed from the input string.
Syntax
LTRIM(string)
Parameters
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| string | character | The field, expression, or literal value to remove leading spaces from. |
Output
Character.
Examples
Basic examples
Note that in both examples the trailing spaces are not removed by the LTRIM( ) function.
Returns "Vancouver ":
LTRIM(" Vancouver ")
Returns "New York ":
LTRIM(" New York ")
Advanced examples
Removing non-breaking spaces
Non-breaking spaces are not removed by the LTRIM( ) function.
If you need to remove leading non-breaking spaces, create a computed field using the following expression:
DEFINE FIELD Description_cleaned COMPUTED LTRIM(REPLACE(Description, CHR(160), CHR(32)))
The REPLACE( ) function replaces any non-breaking spaces with regular spaces, and then LTRIM( ) removes any leading regular spaces.
Remarks
How it works
The LTRIM( ) function removes leading spaces only. Spaces inside the string, and trailing spaces, are not removed.
Related functions
LTRIM( ) is related to the TRIM( ) function, which removes any trailing spaces from a string, and to the ALLTRIM( ) function, which removes both leading and trailing spaces.
