===== Syntax =====

<code php>
string ltrim(string $source [, string $trimCharacters])
</code>

//(PHP 4, PHP 5)//

^ $source | The source string from which characters should be stripped. |
^ $trimCharacters | A list of characters which should be stripped (optional). |
^ RETURNS | The source string with characters stripped from the left side only. |

===== What it Does =====

Trims whitespace characters from the left side (beginning) of the **$source** string.
The user may specify a list of characters to strip by specifying the optional
**$trimCharacters** parameter.  If not specified, the function will only strip the 
whitespace characters listed below:

^ " " | A space character. |
^ "\t" | A tab character. |
^ "\n" | A newline character. |
^ "\r" | A carriage return character. |
^ "\x0b" | A vertical tab character. |

===== Example =====

<code php>
// trim whitespace from the left of a string
$input = " 	\t\r\n	Santa Clause";
$results = array($input, ltrim($input));
print_r($results);
// prints:
// array(
// 	[0] -> " 	\t\r\n	Santa Clause",
// 	[1] -> "Santa Clause"
// )
</code>