Here are three functions sadly missing from javascript’s core code. They’re simple string trimming functions, mocking the functionality of the PHP functions with the same name: trim, rtrim (right trim) and ltrim (left trim). They’re easy and unobstrusive to include in any script and can really come in handy… I keep forgetting to post the suckers.

Note: be sure to include all three in your code. The trim() function requires the other two to work.

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String.prototype.ltrim = function() { var re = /\s*((\S+\s*)*)/; return this.replace(re, "$1"); }
String.prototype.rtrim = function() { var re = /((\s*\S+)*)\s*/; return this.replace(re, "$1"); }
String.prototype.trim  = function() { return this.rtrim().ltrim(); }

Example usage:

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var my_string1 = " Condi!";
var my_string2 = "Rummy!  ";
var my_string3 = " Brownie!  ";

alert(my_string1.ltrim()); // alerts "Condi!"
alert(my_string1.rtrim()); // alerts " Condi!"
alert(my_string2.ltrim()); // alerts "Rummy!  "
alert(my_string2.rtrim()); // alerts "Rummy!"
alert(my_string3.trim()); // alerts "Brownie!"