function trim(sStringToTrim) {
		//validate input value
		if (typeof(sStringToTrim) != "string") { return sTrimmedString; }

		//trim whitespaces
		var sTrimmedString = sStringToTrim.replace(/^\s*/, "");	//left side
		sTrimmedString = sTrimmedString.replace(/\s*$/, "");	//right side
		
		return sTrimmedString;
}