I currently use this function to tr 3

[arcticpuppy]

I currently use this function to trim spaces from a string
function trim(str){
nsub1=sub("^[ ]*", "", str)
nsub2=sub("[ ]*$", "", str)
return str
}

I tried to use
nsub1=sub("^[ ]*", "\t", str)
nsub3=sub("[ ]*$", "\t", str)

to remove tabs and only was able to remove "tt" from my strings....does anyone have a asuggestion on how to remove leading tabs and following tabs from a string ?

 

[gregor weertman]

sub("^[\t]*", "", str)
sub("[\t]*$", "", str) Gregor.Weertman@mailcity.com

 

[jasperx]

Both the original post and answer are very helpful to me... but I am new and easily baffeled.
What is going on with the variables nsub1 and nsub2... I have tested the script and see it works perfectly but I do not see how return str is actually returning nsub1 or nsub2??

When you are as early on the learning curve as I am, every day brings new discoveries.

 

[CaKiwi]

The sub function modifies the str argument directly and returns 1 is a substitution was made or 0 otherwise. The nsub1 and nsub2 variables are set to either 0 or 1 and then never used, at least not in the snippet presented.

CaKiwi

"I love mankind, it's people I can't stand" - Linus Van Pelt