# LTRIM function
<a name="LTRIM"></a>

Trims characters from the beginning of a string. Removes the longest string containing only characters in the trim characters list. Trimming is complete when a trim character doesn't appear in the input string.

## Syntax
<a name="LTRIM-synopsis"></a>

```
LTRIM( string [, trim_chars] )
```

## Arguments
<a name="LTRIM-arguments"></a>

 *string*   
A string column, expression, or string literal to be trimmed.

 *trim\$1chars*   
A string column, expression, or string literal that represents the characters to be trimmed from the beginning of *string*. If not specified, a space is used as the trim character.

## Return type
<a name="LTRIM-return-type"></a>

The LTRIM function returns a character string that is the same data type as the input *string* (CHAR or VARCHAR). 

## Examples
<a name="LTRIM-example"></a>

The following example trims the year from the `listime` column. The trim characters in string literal `'2008-'` indicate the characters to be trimmed from the left. If you use the trim characters `'028-'`, you achieve the same result. 

```
select listid, listtime, ltrim(listtime, '2008-')
from listing
order by 1, 2, 3
limit 10;            

listid |      listtime       |     ltrim
-------+---------------------+----------------
     1 | 2008-01-24 06:43:29 | 1-24 06:43:29
     2 | 2008-03-05 12:25:29 | 3-05 12:25:29
     3 | 2008-11-01 07:35:33 | 11-01 07:35:33
     4 | 2008-05-24 01:18:37 | 5-24 01:18:37
     5 | 2008-05-17 02:29:11 | 5-17 02:29:11
     6 | 2008-08-15 02:08:13 | 15 02:08:13
     7 | 2008-11-15 09:38:15 | 11-15 09:38:15
     8 | 2008-11-09 05:07:30 | 11-09 05:07:30
     9 | 2008-09-09 08:03:36 | 9-09 08:03:36
    10 | 2008-06-17 09:44:54 | 6-17 09:44:54
```

LTRIM removes any of the characters in *trim\$1chars* when they appear at the beginning of *string*. The following example trims the characters 'C', 'D', and 'G' when they appear at the beginning of VENUENAME, which is a VARCHAR column. 

```
select venueid, venuename, ltrim(venuename, 'CDG')
from venue
where venuename like '%Park'
order by 2
limit 7;             

venueid | venuename                  | btrim                    
--------+----------------------------+--------------------------
    121 | ATT Park                   | ATT Park                
    109 | Citizens Bank Park         | itizens Bank Park        
    102 | Comerica Park              | omerica Park             
      9 | Dick's Sporting Goods Park | ick's Sporting Goods Park
     97 | Fenway Park                | Fenway Park              
    112 | Great American Ball Park   | reat American Ball Park  
    114 | Miller Park                | Miller Park
```

The following example uses the trim character `2` which is retrieved from the `venueid` column.

```
select ltrim('2008-01-24 06:43:29', venueid) 
from venue where venueid=2;              

ltrim
------------------
008-01-24 06:43:29
```

The following example does not trim any characters because a `2` is found before the `'0'` trim character. 

```
select ltrim('2008-01-24 06:43:29', '0');              

ltrim
-------------------
2008-01-24 06:43:29
```

The following example uses the default space trim character and trims the two spaces from the beginning of the string. 

```
select ltrim('  2008-01-24 06:43:29');              

ltrim
-------------------
2008-01-24 06:43:29
```