function trim(str, chars) {
    return ltrim(rtrim(str, chars), chars);
}

function ltrim(str, chars) {
    chars = chars || "\\s";
    return str.replace(new RegExp("^[" + chars + "]+", "g"), "");
}

function rtrim(str, chars) {
    chars = chars || "\\s";
    return str.replace(new RegExp("[" + chars + "]+$", "g"), "");
}