In a POSIX shell, I would do it like this: trim_string () ( x=${1%[:space:]} return ${x#[:space:]} ) Note the use of a subshell ( instead of command g

In a POSIX shell, I would do it like this: trim_string () ( x=${1%[:space:]} return ${x#[:space:]} ) Note the use of a subshell ( instead of command grouping { because POSIX shells do not have local function variables. At least, I think that would work. On Windows, forking is expensive, so I wouldn't do it this way.