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  * polars.Expr.... 

#  polars.Expr.str.strip_chars_start  #

Expr.str.  strip_chars_start  (  _ characters  :  IntoExprColumn  |  [ None  ](https://docs.python.org/3/library/constants.html#None "\(in Python v3.12\)") =  None  _ )  →  Expr  [ [source]  ](https://github.com/pola-rs/polars/blob/main/py-polars/polars/expr/string.py#L631-L698) # 
    

Remove leading characters.

Note

This method strips any characters present in ` characters  ` from the start of
the input, no matter their order. To strip a prefix (i.e. a “word” of
characters in a certain order), use [ ` strip_prefix()  `
](polars.Expr.str.strip_prefix.html#polars.Expr.str.strip_prefix
"polars.Expr.str.strip_prefix") instead.

Parameters  :

    

**characters**

    

The set of characters to be removed. All combinations of this set of
characters will be stripped from the start of the string. If set to None
(default), all leading whitespace is removed instead.

See also

[ ` strip_prefix  `
](polars.Expr.str.strip_prefix.html#polars.Expr.str.strip_prefix
"polars.Expr.str.strip_prefix")

    
[ ` strip_chars_end  `
](polars.Expr.str.strip_chars_end.html#polars.Expr.str.strip_chars_end
"polars.Expr.str.strip_chars_end")

    

Examples

    
    
    >>> df = pl.DataFrame({"foo": [" hello ", "\tworld"]})
    >>> df.with_columns(foo_strip_start=pl.col("foo").str.strip_chars_start())
    shape: (2, 2)
    ┌─────────┬─────────────────┐
    │ foo     ┆ foo_strip_start │
    │ ---     ┆ ---             │
    │ str     ┆ str             │
    ╞═════════╪═════════════════╡
    │  hello  ┆ hello           │
    │   world   ┆ world           │
    └─────────┴─────────────────┘
    

Characters can be stripped by passing a string as argument. Note that
whitespace will not be stripped automatically when doing so.

    
    
    >>> df.with_columns(
    ...     foo_strip_start=pl.col("foo").str.strip_chars_start("wod\t"),
    ... )
    shape: (2, 2)
    ┌─────────┬─────────────────┐
    │ foo     ┆ foo_strip_start │
    │ ---     ┆ ---             │
    │ str     ┆ str             │
    ╞═════════╪═════════════════╡
    │  hello  ┆  hello          │
    │   world   ┆ rld             │
    └─────────┴─────────────────┘
    

The order of the provided characters does not matter, they behave like a set.

    
    
    >>> pl.DataFrame({"foo": ["aabcdef"]}).with_columns(
    ...     foo_strip_start=pl.col("foo").str.strip_chars_start("cba")
    ... )
    shape: (1, 2)
    ┌─────────┬─────