function ltrim ( s ) 
{ 
s = s.replace( /^\s*/, "" ) ;
//alert ("After left trim string = "+s);
//alert("After left trim string length = "+s.length);
return s;
} 

function rtrim ( s ) 
{ 
s = s.replace( /\s*$/, "" ); 
//alert ("After right trim string = "+s);
//alert("After right trim string length = "+s.length);
return s
} 

function trim ( s ) 
{ 
s = rtrim(ltrim(s)); 
//alert ("After final trim string = "+s);
//alert("After final trim string length = "+s.length);
return s; 
}