// Function to strip padding
  
          function unpadString(strng){
                  aString = strng;
                  aString = replaceStr( aString, "  ", " ", 0 );                 // compress spaces
                  if( strng.charAt( 0 ) == " " ){ aString = aString.substring(1, aString.length ); }
                  if( strng.charAt( aString.length - 1 ) == " " ){ aString = aString.substring(0, aString.length - 1 ); }
                  for( i=0; i < punct.length; i++ ){
                          aString = replaceStr( aString, " " + punct[i], punct[i], 0 );
                  }
                  return aString
          }