function trim(strText) { 
 // this will get rid of leading spaces 
 while (strText.substring(0,1) == ' ' || strText.substring(0,1) == '\t' ) 
  strText = strText.substring(1, strText.length);
 // this will get rid of trailing spaces 
 while (strText.substring(strText.length-1,strText.length) == ' ' || strText.substring(strText.length-1,strText.length) == '\t')
  strText = strText.substring(0, strText.length-1);
 return strText;
}