[SLUG] ask perl

[henry]

Dear List:     I use split to parse string as follows:        #!/usr/bin/perl -w      $record ="Pacific:ocean"      my($a,$b)=split(/:/,$record);      print "$a\n";      print "$b\n";       My problem is :         In practical use , I usually get                                     $record = "             a :        b" ;       How do I  take out those blanks ?     BestRegards Henry