MySQL - LTRIM() Function

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The MySQL LTRIM() function is used to remove all the leading spaces from the given string. It accepts a string value as a parameter and returns the result by removing any whitespace characters, such as spaces, tabs, or newlines, from the left beginning of the string.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of MySQL LTRIM() function −

LTRIM(str)

Parameters

This function takes a string value as a parameter.

Return Value

This function returns the modified string with leading spaces removed.

Example

In the following example, we are using the LTRIM() function to remove the leading spaces from the string '    Tutorialspoint' −

SELECT LTRIM('    Tutorialspoint');

Following is the output of the above code −

LTRIM('    Tutorialspoint')
Tutorialspoint

Example

You can also use numerical values as arguments to this function by converting them to strings −

SELECT LTRIM('  5578');

The output obtained is as follows −

LTRIM('  5578')
5578

Example

If the argument passed to this function is NULL, it returns NULL −

SELECT LTRIM(NULL );

We get the output as follows −

LTRIM(NULL )
0x

If you disable the --binary-as-hex value, the result of the above query will be as follows −

SELECT LTRIM(NULL );

We get the output as follows −

LTRIM(NULL )
NULL

Example

You can also use this function to remove leading spaces from the values of a column of a table.

Let us create a table named "PLAYERS_TABLE" and insert records into it using CREATE and INSERT statements as shown below −

CREATE TABLE PLAYERS_TABLE(
   ID INT,
   First_Name VARCHAR(255),
   Last_Name VARCHAR(255),
   Date_Of_Birth date,
   Place_Of_Birth VARCHAR(255),
   Country VARCHAR(255),
   PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);

Now, let us insert records into it using the INSERT statement −

INSERT INTO PLAYERS_TABLE VALUES
(1, '    Shikhar', 'Dhawan', DATE('1981-12-05'), 'Delhi', 'India'),
(2, '    Jonathan', 'Trott', DATE('1981-04-22'), 'CapeTown', 'SouthAfrica'),
(3, '    Kumara', 'Sangakkara', DATE('1977-10-27'), 'Matale', 'Srilanka'),
(4, '    Virat', 'Kohli', DATE('1988-11-05'), 'Delhi', 'India'),
(5, '    Rohit', 'Sharma', DATE('1987-04-30'), 'Nagpur', 'India'),
(6, '    James', 'Anderson', DATE('1982-06-30'), 'Burnley', 'England');

The PLAYERS_TABLE obtained is as follows −

ID	First_Name	Last_Name	Date_Of_Birth	Place_Of_Birth	Country
1	Shikhar	Dhawan	1981-12-05	Delhi	India
2	Jonathan	Trott	1981-04-22	CapeTown	SouthAfrica
3	Kumara	Sangakkara	1977-10-27	Matale	Srilanka
4	Virat	Kohli	1988-11-05	Delhi	India
5	Rohit	Sharma	1987-04-30	Nagpur	India
6	James	Anderson	1982-06-30	Burnley	England

Following query removes all the leading spaces entities of the values of the column First_Name −

SELECT ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Country, LTRIM(First_Name)
FROM PLAYERS_TABLE;

Output

After executing the above code, we get the following output −

ID	First_Name	Last_Name	Country	LTRIM(First_Name)
1	Shikhar	Dhawan	India	Shikhar
2	Jonathan	Trott	SouthAfrica	Jonathan
3	Kumara	Sangakkara	Srilanka	Kumara
4	Virat	Kohli	India	Virat
5	Rohit	Sharma	India	Rohit
6	James	Anderson	England	James

Example

Additionally, you can use the LTRIM() function along with the UPDATE statement to remove leading spaces in a column.

In the following example, we are updating the 'First_Name' column in the 'PLAYERS_TABLE' −

UPDATE PLAYERS_TABLE SET First_name = LTRIM(First_name);

Output

Following is the output obtained −

Query OK, 6 rows affected (0.02 sec)
Rows matched: 6  Changed: 6  Warnings: 0

Verification

You can verify the changes done using the following SELECT query −

SELECT * FROM PLAYERS_TABLE;

The result produced is as follows −

ID	First_Name	Last_Name	Date_Of_Birth	Place_Of_Birth	Country
1	Shikhar	Dhawan	1981-12-05	Delhi	India
2	Jonathan	Trott	1981-04-22	CapeTown	SouthAfrica
3	Kumara	Sangakkara	1977-10-27	Matale	Srilanka
4	Virat	Kohli	1988-11-05	Delhi	India
5	Rohit	Sharma	1987-04-30	Nagpur	India
6	James	Anderson	1982-06-30	Burnley	England

Example

We can also use the LTRIM() function along with WHERE clause.

Here, we are removing the leading spaces for the player names whose country is not "INDIA" −

UPDATE PLAYERS_TABLE SET First_name = LTRIM(First_name)
WHERE Country <> 'India';

Output

Following is the output obtained −

Query OK, 3 rows affected (0.01 sec)
Rows matched: 3  Changed: 3  Warnings: 0

Verification

You can verify the changes done using the following SELECT query −

SELECT * FROM PLAYERS_TABLE;

The table obtained is as follows −

ID	First_Name	Last_Name	Date_Of_Birth	Place_Of_Birth	Country
1	Shikhar	Dhawan	1981-12-05	Delhi	India
2	Jonathan	Trott	1981-04-22	CapeTown	SouthAfrica
3	Kumara	Sangakkara	1977-10-27	Matale	Srilanka
4	Virat	Kohli	1988-11-05	Delhi	India
5	Rohit	Sharma	1987-04-30	Nagpur	India
6	James	Anderson	1982-06-30	Burnley	England