LTRIM

Returns a character expression after removing leading blanks.

Syntax

LTRIM ( character_expression )

Arguments

character_expression

Is an expression of character or binary data. character_expression can be a constant, variable, or column. character_expression must be of a data type that is implicitly convertible to varchar. Otherwise, use CAST to explicitly convert character_expression.

Return Type

varchar

Remarks

Compatibility levels can affect return values. For more information about compatibility levels, see sp_dbcmptlevel.

Examples

This example uses LTRIM to remove leading spaces from a character variable.

DECLARE @string_to_trim varchar(60)
SET @string_to_trim = '     Five spaces are at the beginning of this
   string.'
SELECT 'Here is the string without the leading spaces: ' + 
   LTRIM(@string_to_trim)
GO

Here is the result set:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the string without the leading spaces: Five spaces are at the beginning of this string.             

(1 row(s) affected)

See Also

Data Types

String Functions