String/Character Functions – ltrim

The Oracle/PLSQL function ltrim removes all specified characters from the left of a string. It removes every occurrence of specified characters that are leading the string.

Syntax:

LTRIM(string, trim_string)

string is the string from which characters have to be trimmed. trim_string is optional. It is the set of characters that will be removed from the left of the string. The default for this is space.

Example code:

SELECT LTRIM('   author   ') trimmed_name
FROM dual

This returns ‘author ‘

SELECT LTRIM('ABCABCauthorABC', 'ABC') trimmed_name
FROM dual

trimmed_name
————-
authorABC

SELECT LTRIM('124523124author3438', '0123456789') trimmed_name
FROM dual

trimmed_name
————-
author3438

Note: ltrim removes individual occurrences of the number that are leading in the string