code: public static String ltrim(String str, String defaultValue) {
  	if (str == null) return defaultValue;
  	int len = str.length();
  	int st = 0;
  
  	while ((st < len) && (str.charAt(st) <= ' ')) {
  	    st++;
  	}
  	return ((st > 0)) ? str.substring(st) : str;
      }
docs: This function returns a string with whitespace stripped from the beginning of str
  
  @param str String to clean
  @return cleaned String