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# ltrim

(PHP 3 <= 3.0.18, PHP 4 >= 4.0.0)

ltrim -- Strip whitespace from the beginning of a string

## Description

``string ltrim` (string str [, string charlist])`

> Note: The second parameter was added in PHP 4.1.0

This function returns a string with whitespace stripped from the beginning of `str`. Without the second parameter, ltrim() will strip these characters:

- " " (ASCII `32` (`0x20`)), an ordinary space.

- "\t" (ASCII `9` (`0x09`)), a tab.

- "\n" (ASCII `10` (`0x0A`)), a new line (line feed).

- "\r" (ASCII `13` (`0x0D`)), a carriage return.

- "\0" (ASCII `0` (`0x00`)), the `NUL`-byte.

- "\x0B" (ASCII `11` (`0x0B`)), a vertical tab.

You can also specify the characters you want to strip, by means of the `charlist` parameter. Simply list all characters that you want to be stripped. With `..` you can specify a range of characters.

Example 1. Usuage example of ltrim()

    <?php

    $text = "\t\tThese are a few words :) ...  ";
    $trimmed = ltrim($text);
    // $trimmed = "These are a few words :) ...  "
    $trimmed = ltrim($text," \t.");
    // $trimmed = "These are a few words :) ...  "
    $clean = ltrim($binary,"\0x00..\0x1F");
    // trim the ASCII control characters at the beginning of $binary
    // (from 0 to 31 inclusive)

    ?>

See also trim() and rtrim().

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