add a stripStart, can replace EraseLeadingChars

20 files changed, 217 insertions, 131 deletions

diff --git a/comphelper/inc/comphelper/string.hxx b/comphelper/inc/comphelper/string.hxx
index 00a1664016cf..e6b2d721099d 100644
--- a/comphelper/inc/comphelper/string.hxx
+++ b/comphelper/inc/comphelper/string.hxx
@@ -220,6 +220,27 @@ COMPHELPER_DLLPUBLIC rtl::OString remove(const rtl::OString &rIn,
 COMPHELPER_DLLPUBLIC rtl::OUString remove(const rtl::OUString &rIn,
     sal_Unicode c);
 
+/** Strips occurrences of a character from the start of the source string
+
+    @param rIn      The input OString
+    @param c        The character to be stripped from the beginning
+
+    @return         The resulting OString
+ */
+COMPHELPER_DLLPUBLIC rtl::OString stripStart(const rtl::OString &rIn,
+    sal_Char c);
+
+/** Strips occurrences of a character from the start of the source string
+
+    @param rIn      The input OUString
+    @param c        The character to be stripped from the beginning
+
+    @return         The resulting OUString
+ */
+COMPHELPER_DLLPUBLIC rtl::OUString stripStart(const rtl::OUString &rIn,
+    sal_Unicode c);
+
+
 /** Returns a token in the OString
 
   @param    token       the number of the token to return
diff --git a/comphelper/qa/string/test_string.cxx b/comphelper/qa/string/test_string.cxx
index 2ce6f2cff1bb..790519d07839 100644
--- a/comphelper/qa/string/test_string.cxx
+++ b/comphelper/qa/string/test_string.cxx
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ public:
     void testNatural();
     void testReplace();
     void testRemove();
+    void testStripStart();
     void testToken();
     void testDecimalStringToNumber();
     void testIsdigitAsciiString();
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ public:
     CPPUNIT_TEST(testNatural);
     CPPUNIT_TEST(testReplace);
     CPPUNIT_TEST(testRemove);
+    CPPUNIT_TEST(testStripStart);
     CPPUNIT_TEST(testToken);
     CPPUNIT_TEST(testDecimalStringToNumber);
     CPPUNIT_TEST(testIsdigitAsciiString);
@@ -430,6 +432,26 @@ void TestString::testRemove()
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT(aOut.isEmpty());
 }
 
+void TestString::testStripStart()
+{
+    ::rtl::OString aIn(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("abc"));
+    ::rtl::OString aOut;
+
+    aOut = ::comphelper::string::stripStart(aIn, 'b');
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(aOut.equalsL(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("abc")));
+
+    aOut = ::comphelper::string::stripStart(aIn, 'a');
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(aOut.equalsL(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("bc")));
+
+    aIn = rtl::OString(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("aaa"));
+    aOut = ::comphelper::string::stripStart(aIn, 'a');
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(aOut.isEmpty());
+
+    aIn = rtl::OString(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("aba"));
+    aOut = ::comphelper::string::stripStart(aIn, 'a');
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(aOut.equalsL(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("ba")));
+}
+
 void TestString::testToken()
 {
     ::rtl::OString aIn(RTL_CONSTASCII_STRINGPARAM("10.11.12"));
diff --git a/comphelper/source/misc/string.cxx b/comphelper/source/misc/string.cxx
index 8525e79bd4fc..09fb2684e7ce 100644
--- a/comphelper/source/misc/string.cxx
+++ b/comphelper/source/misc/string.cxx
@@ -169,6 +169,37 @@ rtl::OUString remove(const rtl::OUString &rIn, sal_Unicode c)
     return tmpl_remove<rtl::OUString, sal_Unicode, rtl::OUStringBuffer>(rIn, c);
 }
 
+namespace
+{
+    template <typename T, typename C> T tmpl_stripStart(const T &rIn,
+        const C cRemove)
+    {
+        if (rIn.isEmpty())
+            return rIn;
+
+        sal_Int32 i = 0;
+
+        while (i < rIn.getLength())
+        {
+            if (rIn[i] != cRemove)
+                break;
+            ++i;
+        }
+
+        return rIn.copy(i);
+    }
+}
+
+rtl::OString stripStart(const rtl::OString &rIn, sal_Char c)
+{
+    return tmpl_stripStart<rtl::OString, sal_Char>(rIn, c);
+}
+
+rtl::OUString stripStart(const rtl::OUString &rIn, sal_Unicode c)
+{
+    return tmpl_stripStart<rtl::OUString, sal_Unicode>(rIn, c);
+}
+
 sal_uInt32 decimalStringToNumber(
     ::rtl::OUString const & str )
 {
diff --git a/l10ntools/source/export.cxx b/l10ntools/source/export.cxx
index 7ad52f670b9b..2234125a420f 100644
--- a/l10ntools/source/export.cxx
+++ b/l10ntools/source/export.cxx
@@ -1281,7 +1281,7 @@ ByteString Export::GetPairedListID( const ByteString& sText ){
     sIdent.ToUpperAscii();
     while( sIdent.SearchAndReplace( "\t", " " ) != STRING_NOTFOUND ) {};
     sIdent.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
-    sIdent.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+    sIdent = comphelper::string::stripStart(sIdent, ' ');
     return sIdent;
 }
 ByteString Export::GetPairedListString( const ByteString& sText ){
@@ -1292,7 +1292,7 @@ ByteString Export::GetPairedListString( const ByteString& sText ){
     ByteString s1 = sString.Copy( sString.Search( '\"' )+1 );
     sString = s1.Copy( 0 , s1.SearchBackward( '\"' ) );
     sString.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
-    sString.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+    sString = comphelper::string::stripStart(sString, ' ');
     return sString;
 }
 ByteString Export::StripList( const ByteString& sText ){
@@ -1547,7 +1547,7 @@ ByteString Export::GetText( const ByteString &rSource, int nToken )
                             STRING_NOTFOUND ) {};
                         while( sToken.SearchAndReplace( "  ", " " ) !=
                             STRING_NOTFOUND ) {};
-                        sToken.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+                        sToken = comphelper::string::stripStart(sToken, ' ');
                         sToken.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
                         if ( sToken.Len()) {
                             sReturn += "\\\" ";
diff --git a/l10ntools/source/gsicheck.cxx b/l10ntools/source/gsicheck.cxx
index 9f1485b6d1c1..036edafb0601 100644
--- a/l10ntools/source/gsicheck.cxx
+++ b/l10ntools/source/gsicheck.cxx
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ void GSIBlock::PrintList( ParserMessageList *pList, ByteString aPrefix,
             else
                 aContext = pLine->Copy( pMsg->GetTagBegin()-150, 300 );
             aContext.EraseTrailingChars(' ');
-            aContext.EraseLeadingChars(' ');
+            aContext = comphelper::string::stripStart(aContext, ' ');
         }
 
         PrintMessage( pMsg->Prefix(), pMsg->GetErrorText(), aPrefix, aContext, pLine->GetLineNumber(), pLine->GetUniqId() );
diff --git a/l10ntools/source/helpmerge.cxx b/l10ntools/source/helpmerge.cxx
index 214105c25c79..efa5c0cef529 100644
--- a/l10ntools/source/helpmerge.cxx
+++ b/l10ntools/source/helpmerge.cxx
@@ -512,8 +512,8 @@ ByteString HelpParser::GetOutpath( const ByteString& rPathX , const ByteString&
     testpath += sCur;
     testpath += sDelimiter;
     ByteString sRelativePath( rPathY );
-    sRelativePath.EraseLeadingChars( '/' );
-    sRelativePath.EraseLeadingChars( '\\' );
+    sRelativePath = comphelper::string::stripStart(sRelativePath, '/');
+    sRelativePath = comphelper::string::stripStart(sRelativePath, '\\');
     testpath += sRelativePath;
     testpath += sDelimiter;
     return testpath;
diff --git a/l10ntools/source/lngmerge.cxx b/l10ntools/source/lngmerge.cxx
index 7592d4979160..57216afc6f74 100644
--- a/l10ntools/source/lngmerge.cxx
+++ b/l10ntools/source/lngmerge.cxx
@@ -142,54 +142,59 @@ sal_Bool LngParser::CreateSDF(
     return true;
 }
 
- void LngParser::WriteSDF( SvFileStream &aSDFStream , ByteStringHashMap &rText_inout ,
-     const ByteString &rPrj , const ByteString &rRoot ,
-     const ByteString &sActFileName , const ByteString &sID )
- {
-
-    sal_Bool bExport = true;
-    if ( bExport ) {
-           ByteString sTimeStamp( Export::GetTimeStamp());
-        ByteString sCur;
-        for( unsigned int n = 0; n < aLanguages.size(); n++ ){
-            sCur = aLanguages[ n ];
-            ByteString sAct = rText_inout[ sCur ];
-            if ( !sAct.Len() && sCur.Len() )
-                sAct = rText_inout[ ByteString("en-US") ];
-
-            ByteString sOutput( rPrj ); sOutput += "\t";
-            if ( rRoot.Len())
-                sOutput += sActFileName;
-            sOutput += "\t0\t";
-            sOutput += "LngText\t";
-            sOutput += sID; sOutput += "\t\t\t\t0\t";
-            sOutput += sCur; sOutput += "\t";
-            sOutput += sAct; sOutput += "\t\t\t\t";
-            sOutput += sTimeStamp;
-            aSDFStream.WriteLine( sOutput );
-        }
-    }
- }
- bool LngParser::isNextGroup( ByteString &sGroup_out , ByteString &sLine_in ){
-    sLine_in.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+void LngParser::WriteSDF( SvFileStream &aSDFStream , ByteStringHashMap &rText_inout ,
+    const ByteString &rPrj , const ByteString &rRoot ,
+    const ByteString &sActFileName , const ByteString &sID )
+{
+
+   sal_Bool bExport = true;
+   if ( bExport ) {
+          ByteString sTimeStamp( Export::GetTimeStamp());
+       ByteString sCur;
+       for( unsigned int n = 0; n < aLanguages.size(); n++ ){
+           sCur = aLanguages[ n ];
+           ByteString sAct = rText_inout[ sCur ];
+           if ( !sAct.Len() && sCur.Len() )
+               sAct = rText_inout[ ByteString("en-US") ];
+
+           ByteString sOutput( rPrj ); sOutput += "\t";
+           if ( rRoot.Len())
+               sOutput += sActFileName;
+           sOutput += "\t0\t";
+           sOutput += "LngText\t";
+           sOutput += sID; sOutput += "\t\t\t\t0\t";
+           sOutput += sCur; sOutput += "\t";
+           sOutput += sAct; sOutput += "\t\t\t\t";
+           sOutput += sTimeStamp;
+           aSDFStream.WriteLine( sOutput );
+       }
+   }
+}
+
+bool LngParser::isNextGroup( ByteString &sGroup_out , ByteString &sLine_in )
+{
+    sLine_in = comphelper::string::stripStart(sLine_in, ' ');
     sLine_in.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
     if (( sLine_in.GetChar( 0 ) == '[' ) &&
-            ( sLine_in.GetChar( sLine_in.Len() - 1 ) == ']' )){
+           ( sLine_in.GetChar( sLine_in.Len() - 1 ) == ']' ))
+    {
         sGroup_out = getToken(getToken(sLine_in, 1, '['), 0, ']');
-        sGroup_out.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+        sGroup_out = comphelper::string::stripStart(sGroup_out, ' ');
         sGroup_out.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
         return true;
     }
     return false;
- }
- void LngParser::ReadLine( const ByteString &sLine_in , ByteStringHashMap &rText_inout){
-    ByteString sLang = getToken(sLine_in, 0, '=');
-    sLang.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
-    sLang.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
-    ByteString sText = getToken(getToken(sLine_in, 1, '\"'), 0, '\"');
-    if( sLang.Len() )
-        rText_inout[ sLang ] = sText;
- }
+}
+
+void LngParser::ReadLine( const ByteString &sLine_in , ByteStringHashMap &rText_inout)
+{
+   rtl::OString sLang = getToken(sLine_in, 0, '=');
+   sLang = comphelper::string::stripStart(sLang, ' ');
+   sLang = comphelper::string::stripStart(sLang, ' ');
+   rtl::OString sText = getToken(getToken(sLine_in, 1, '\"'), 0, '\"');
+   if (!sLang.isEmpty())
+       rText_inout[ sLang ] = sText;
+}
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
 sal_Bool LngParser::Merge(
@@ -217,15 +222,16 @@ sal_Bool LngParser::Merge(
     ByteString sGroup;
 
     // seek to next group
-    while ( nPos < pLines->size() && !bGroup ) {
+    while ( nPos < pLines->size() && !bGroup )
+    {
         ByteString sLine( *(*pLines)[ nPos ] );
-        sLine.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+        sLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(sLine, ' ');
         sLine.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
         if (( sLine.GetChar( 0 ) == '[' ) &&
             ( sLine.GetChar( sLine.Len() - 1 ) == ']' ))
         {
             sGroup = getToken(getToken(sLine, 1, '['), 0, ']');
-            sGroup.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+            sGroup = comphelper::string::stripStart(sGroup, ' ');
             sGroup.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
             bGroup = sal_True;
         }
@@ -245,23 +251,25 @@ sal_Bool LngParser::Merge(
 
         ByteString sLanguagesDone;
 
-        while ( nPos < pLines->size() && !bGroup ) {
+        while ( nPos < pLines->size() && !bGroup )
+        {
             ByteString sLine( *(*pLines)[ nPos ] );
-            sLine.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+            sLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(sLine, ' ');
             sLine.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
             if (( sLine.GetChar( 0 ) == '[' ) &&
                 ( sLine.GetChar( sLine.Len() - 1 ) == ']' ))
             {
                 sGroup = getToken(getToken(sLine, 1, '['), 0, ']');
-                sGroup.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+                sGroup = comphelper::string::stripStart(sGroup, ' ');
                 sGroup.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
                 bGroup = sal_True;
                 nPos ++;
                 sLanguagesDone = "";
             }
-            else if ( sLine.GetTokenCount( '=' ) > 1 ) {
+            else if ( sLine.GetTokenCount( '=' ) > 1 )
+            {
                 ByteString sLang = getToken(sLine, 0, '=');
-                sLang.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+                sLang = comphelper::string::stripStart(sLang, ' ');
                 sLang.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
 
                 ByteString sSearch( ";" );
diff --git a/l10ntools/source/localize.cxx b/l10ntools/source/localize.cxx
index 609e344a9ade..4bbdf2eadf5c 100644
--- a/l10ntools/source/localize.cxx
+++ b/l10ntools/source/localize.cxx
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ const ByteString SourceTreeLocalizer::GetProjectRootRel()
         DirEntry::GetAccessDelimiter(), RTL_TEXTENCODING_ASCII_US );
 
     sCur.SearchAndReplaceAll( sDelimiter, "/" );
-    sCur.EraseLeadingChars( '/' );
+    sCur = comphelper::string::stripStart(sCur, '/');
     sal_uLong nCount = sCur.GetTokenCount( '/' );
 
     ByteString sProjectRootRel;
diff --git a/l10ntools/source/xrmmerge.cxx b/l10ntools/source/xrmmerge.cxx
index 166d35598cfe..0d49e84e1545 100644
--- a/l10ntools/source/xrmmerge.cxx
+++ b/l10ntools/source/xrmmerge.cxx
@@ -440,8 +440,8 @@ void XRMResParser::ConvertStringToDBFormat( ByteString &rString )
     ByteString sResult;
     do {
         sResult = rString;
-        rString.EraseLeadingChars( _LF );
-        rString.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+        rString = comphelper::string::stripStart(rString, _LF);
+        rString = comphelper::string::stripStart(rString, '\t');
         rString.EraseTrailingChars( '\t' );
     } while ( sResult != rString );
 
diff --git a/rsc/source/rsc/rsc.cxx b/rsc/source/rsc/rsc.cxx
index b9969de123fa..1a1a5e3a5c61 100644
--- a/rsc/source/rsc/rsc.cxx
+++ b/rsc/source/rsc/rsc.cxx
@@ -1196,8 +1196,8 @@ void RscCompiler::PreprocessSrsFile( const RscCmdLine::OutputFile& rOutputFile,
                         if( !aIStm.ReadLine( aLine ) )
                             break;
 
-                        aLine.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
-                        aLine.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+                        aLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aLine, ' ');
+                        aLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aLine, '\t');
                         aLine = comphelper::string::remove(aLine, ';');
 
                         if (comphelper::string::isdigitAsciiString(aLine))
diff --git a/sc/Library_scd.mk b/sc/Library_scd.mk
index cc879c845a3a..cff297576fa0 100644
--- a/sc/Library_scd.mk
+++ b/sc/Library_scd.mk
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ $(eval $(call gb_Library_add_api,scd,\
 ))
 
 $(eval $(call gb_Library_add_linked_libs,scd,\
+        comphelper \
         cppu \
         cppuhelper \
         sal \
diff --git a/sc/source/ui/unoobj/scdetect.cxx b/sc/source/ui/unoobj/scdetect.cxx
index 59ba7f1fe304..1132a767157d 100644
--- a/sc/source/ui/unoobj/scdetect.cxx
+++ b/sc/source/ui/unoobj/scdetect.cxx
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include <com/sun/star/awt/XWindow.hpp>
 #include <com/sun/star/lang/XUnoTunnel.hpp>
 #include <comphelper/processfactory.hxx>
+#include <comphelper/string.hxx>
 #include <com/sun/star/beans/PropertyValue.hpp>
 #include <com/sun/star/container/XNameAccess.hpp>
 #include <com/sun/star/io/XInputStream.hpp>
@@ -729,7 +730,7 @@ static sal_Bool lcl_MayBeDBase( SvStream& rStream )
                             }
                             else if ( bIsXLS && bMaybeText )
                             {
-                                aHeader.EraseLeadingChars();
+                                aHeader = comphelper::string::stripStart(aHeader, ' ');
                                 if( aHeader.CompareTo( "<?xml", 5 ) == COMPARE_EQUAL )
                                     pFilter = aMatcher.GetFilter4FilterName( String::CreateFromAscii(pFilter2003XML) );
                                 else
diff --git a/sfx2/inc/sfx2/newstyle.hxx b/sfx2/inc/sfx2/newstyle.hxx
index 22f47eec8974..32f30d9a56c6 100644
--- a/sfx2/inc/sfx2/newstyle.hxx
+++ b/sfx2/inc/sfx2/newstyle.hxx
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@
 #ifndef _NEWSTYLE_HXX
 #define _NEWSTYLE_HXX
 
-#include "sal/config.h"
-#include "sfx2/dllapi.h"
-
+#include <comphelper/string.hxx>
+#include <sal/config.h>
+#include <sfx2/dllapi.h>
 #include <vcl/button.hxx>
 #include <vcl/msgbox.hxx>
 #include <vcl/combobox.hxx>
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public:
     SfxNewStyleDlg( Window* pParent, SfxStyleSheetBasePool& );
     ~SfxNewStyleDlg();
 
-    String                  GetName() const { return aColBox.GetText().EraseLeadingChars(); }
+    String                  GetName() const { return comphelper::string::stripStart(aColBox.GetText(), ' '); }
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/svtools/bmpmaker/bmpcore.cxx b/svtools/bmpmaker/bmpcore.cxx
index d1e0964210d9..159d6e4701c1 100644
--- a/svtools/bmpmaker/bmpcore.cxx
+++ b/svtools/bmpmaker/bmpcore.cxx
@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ void BmpCreator::ImplCreate( const ::std::vector< DirEntry >& rInDirs,
             if( !pSRS->ReadLine( aLine ) )
                 break;
 
-            aLine.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
-            aLine.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+            aLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aLine, ' ');
+            aLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aLine, '\t');
             aLine = comphelper::string::remove(aLine, ';');
 
             if (comphelper::string::isdigitAsciiString(aLine))
diff --git a/svtools/source/misc/imap2.cxx b/svtools/source/misc/imap2.cxx
index 5b1d23d8cc53..1d3b7ab9f1ab 100644
--- a/svtools/source/misc/imap2.cxx
+++ b/svtools/source/misc/imap2.cxx
@@ -265,8 +265,8 @@ void ImageMap::ImpReadCERNLine( const rtl::OString& rLine, const String& rBaseUR
 {
     ByteString  aStr( rLine );
 
-    aStr.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
-    aStr.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+    aStr = comphelper::string::stripStart(aStr, ' ');
+    aStr = comphelper::string::stripStart(aStr, '\t');
     aStr = comphelper::string::remove(aStr, ';');
     aStr.ToLowerAscii();
 
@@ -408,8 +408,8 @@ void ImageMap::ImpReadNCSALine( const rtl::OString& rLine, const String& rBaseUR
 {
     ByteString  aStr( rLine );
 
-    aStr.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
-    aStr.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+    aStr = comphelper::string::stripStart(aStr, ' ');
+    aStr = comphelper::string::stripStart(aStr, '\t');
     aStr = comphelper::string::remove(aStr, ';');
     aStr.ToLowerAscii();
 
diff --git a/tools/bootstrp/prj.cxx b/tools/bootstrp/prj.cxx
index d6432e9f3f79..a3caf2328080 100644
--- a/tools/bootstrp/prj.cxx
+++ b/tools/bootstrp/prj.cxx
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ rtl::OString SimpleConfig::getNext()
 #pragma warning (pop)
 #endif
 
-    aStringBuffer.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+    aStringBuffer = comphelper::string::stripStart(aStringBuffer, '\t');
 
     return aString;
 }
diff --git a/tools/inc/tools/urlobj.hxx b/tools/inc/tools/urlobj.hxx
index 08211e944162..bc792fb5c796 100644
--- a/tools/inc/tools/urlobj.hxx
+++ b/tools/inc/tools/urlobj.hxx
@@ -157,8 +157,8 @@ public:
     /** The way input strings that represent (parts of) URIs are interpreted
         in set-methods.
 
-        @descr  Most set-methods accept either a ByteString or a rtl::OUString
-        as input.  Using a ByteString, octets in the range 0x80--0xFF are
+        @descr  Most set-methods accept either a rtl::OString or a rtl::OUString
+        as input.  Using a rtl::OString, octets in the range 0x80--0xFF are
         replaced by single escape sequences.  Using a rtl::OUString , UTF-32
         characters in the range 0x80--0x10FFFF are replaced by sequences of
         escape sequences, representing the UTF-8 coded characters.
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ public:
     //========================================================================
     // Strict Parsing:
 
-    inline INetURLObject(ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+    inline INetURLObject(const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                          EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                          rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ public:
                          EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                          rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
-    inline bool SetURL(ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+    inline bool SetURL(const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                        EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                        rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ public:
     { m_eSmartScheme = eTheSmartScheme; }
 
     inline bool
-    SetSmartURL(ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+    SetSmartURL(const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                 EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                 rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8,
                 FSysStyle eStyle = FSYS_DETECT);
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ public:
                 FSysStyle eStyle = FSYS_DETECT);
 
     inline INetURLObject
-    smartRel2Abs(ByteString const & rTheRelURIRef,
+    smartRel2Abs(const rtl::OString& rTheRelURIRef,
                  bool & rWasAbsolute,
                  bool bIgnoreFragment = false,
                  EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ public:
     // Relative URLs:
 
     inline bool
-    GetNewAbsURL(ByteString const & rTheRelURIRef,
+    GetNewAbsURL(const rtl::OString& rTheRelURIRef,
                  INetURLObject * pTheAbsURIRef,
                  EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                  rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8,
@@ -469,8 +469,8 @@ public:
               FSysStyle eStyle = FSYS_DETECT);
 
     static inline rtl::OUString
-    GetRelURL(ByteString const & rTheBaseURIRef,
-              ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+    GetRelURL(const rtl::OString& rTheBaseURIRef,
+              const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
               EncodeMechanism eEncodeMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
               DecodeMechanism eDecodeMechanism = DECODE_TO_IURI,
               rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8,
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ public:
                              rtl_TextEncoding eCharset
                                  = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8) const;
 
-    static inline bool translateToExternal(ByteString const & rTheIntURIRef,
+    static inline bool translateToExternal(const rtl::OString& rTheIntURIRef,
                                            rtl::OUString & rTheExtURIRef,
                                            DecodeMechanism eDecodeMechanism
                                                = DECODE_TO_IURI,
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ public:
                                            rtl_TextEncoding eCharset
                                                = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
-    static inline bool translateToInternal(ByteString const & rTheExtURIRef,
+    static inline bool translateToInternal(const rtl::OString& rTheExtURIRef,
                                            rtl::OUString & rTheIntURIRef,
                                            DecodeMechanism eDecodeMechanism
                                                = DECODE_TO_IURI,
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ public:
      */
     static rtl::OUString GetScheme(INetProtocol eTheScheme);
 
-    static inline INetProtocol CompareProtocolScheme(ByteString const &
+    static inline INetProtocol CompareProtocolScheme(const rtl::OString&
                                                          rTheAbsURIRef)
     { return CompareProtocolScheme(extend(rTheAbsURIRef)); }
 
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ public:
                                  = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8) const
     { return decode(m_aAuth, getEscapePrefix(), eMechanism, eCharset); }
 
-    inline bool SetUser(ByteString const & rTheUser,
+    inline bool SetUser(const rtl::OString& rTheUser,
                         EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8)
     { return setUser(extend(rTheUser), true, eMechanism, eCharset); }
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ public:
                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8)
     { return setUser(rTheUser, false, eMechanism, eCharset); }
 
-    inline bool SetPass(ByteString const & rThePassword,
+    inline bool SetPass(const rtl::OString& rThePassword,
                         EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
@@ -577,8 +577,8 @@ public:
                         EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
-    inline bool SetUserAndPass(ByteString const & rTheUser,
-                               ByteString const & rThePassword,
+    inline bool SetUserAndPass(const rtl::OString& rTheUser,
+                               const rtl:OString& rThePassword,
                                EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                                rtl_TextEncoding eCharset
                                    = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ public:
 
     sal_uInt32 GetPort() const;
 
-    inline bool SetHost(ByteString const & rTheHost,
+    inline bool SetHost(const rtl::OString& rTheHost,
                         EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8)
     { return setHost(extend(rTheHost), true, eMechanism, eCharset); }
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ public:
                                     = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8) const
     { return decode(m_aPath, getEscapePrefix(), eMechanism, eCharset); }
 
-    inline bool SetURLPath(ByteString const & rThePath,
+    inline bool SetURLPath(const rtl::OString& rThePath,
                            EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                            rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8)
     { return setPath(extend(rThePath), true, eMechanism, eCharset); }
@@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ public:
                                   = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8) const
     { return decode(m_aQuery, getEscapePrefix(), eMechanism, eCharset); }
 
-    inline bool SetParam(ByteString const & rTheQuery,
+    inline bool SetParam(const rtl::OString& rTheQuery,
                          EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                          rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ public:
                                  = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8) const
     { return decode(m_aFragment, getEscapePrefix(), eMechanism, eCharset); }
 
-    inline bool SetMark(ByteString const & rTheFragment,
+    inline bool SetMark(const rtl::OString& rTheFragment,
                         EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
@@ -1073,7 +1073,7 @@ public:
         @return  The encoded representation of the text ('forbidden'
         characters replaced by escape sequences).
      */
-    static inline rtl::OUString encode(ByteString const & rText, Part ePart,
+    static inline rtl::OUString encode(const rtl::OString& rText, Part ePart,
                                    sal_Char cEscapePrefix,
                                    EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                    rtl_TextEncoding eCharset
@@ -1190,7 +1190,7 @@ public:
                                rtl_TextEncoding eCharset
                                    = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8) const;
 
-    inline bool Append(ByteString const & rTheSegment,
+    inline bool Append(const rtl::OString& rTheSegment,
                        EncodeMechanism eMechanism = WAS_ENCODED,
                        rtl_TextEncoding eCharset = RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8)
     { return appendSegment(extend(rTheSegment), true, eMechanism, eCharset); }
@@ -1426,7 +1426,7 @@ private:
 
     // Coding:
 
-    static inline rtl::OUString extend(ByteString const & rOctets)
+    static inline rtl::OUString extend(const rtl::OString& rOctets)
     {
         return rtl::OUString(rOctets.GetBuffer(), rOctets.Len(),
             RTL_TEXTENCODING_ISO_8859_1);
@@ -1495,7 +1495,7 @@ inline rtl::OUString INetURLObject::decode(SubString const & rSubString,
                rtl::OUString();
 }
 
-inline INetURLObject::INetURLObject(ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+inline INetURLObject::INetURLObject(const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                                     EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                     rtl_TextEncoding eCharset):
     m_eScheme(INET_PROT_NOT_VALID), m_eSmartScheme(INET_PROT_HTTP)
@@ -1513,7 +1513,7 @@ inline INetURLObject::INetURLObject(rtl::OUString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
                  FSysStyle(0));
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::SetURL(ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+inline bool INetURLObject::SetURL(const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                                   EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                   rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
@@ -1539,7 +1539,7 @@ inline INetURLObject::INetURLObject(rtl::OUString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
     setAbsURIRef(rTheAbsURIRef, false, eMechanism, eCharset, true, eStyle);
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::SetSmartURL(ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+inline bool INetURLObject::SetSmartURL(const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                                        EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                        rtl_TextEncoding eCharset,
                                        FSysStyle eStyle)
@@ -1558,7 +1558,7 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::SetSmartURL(rtl::OUString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
 }
 
 inline INetURLObject
-INetURLObject::smartRel2Abs(ByteString const & rTheRelURIRef,
+INetURLObject::smartRel2Abs(const rtl::OString& rTheRelURIRef,
                             bool & rWasAbsolute,
                             bool bIgnoreFragment,
                             EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
@@ -1589,7 +1589,7 @@ INetURLObject::smartRel2Abs(rtl::OUString const & rTheRelURIRef,
     return aTheAbsURIRef;
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::GetNewAbsURL(ByteString const & rTheRelURIRef,
+inline bool INetURLObject::GetNewAbsURL(const rtl::OString& rTheRelURIRef,
                                         INetURLObject * pTheAbsURIRef,
                                         EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                         rtl_TextEncoding eCharset,
@@ -1626,8 +1626,8 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::GetNewAbsURL(rtl::OUString const & rTheRelURIRef,
 }
 
 // static
-inline rtl::OUString INetURLObject::GetRelURL(ByteString const & rTheBaseURIRef,
-                                          ByteString const & rTheAbsURIRef,
+inline rtl::OUString INetURLObject::GetRelURL(const rtl::OString& rTheBaseURIRef,
+                                          const rtl::OString& rTheAbsURIRef,
                                           EncodeMechanism eEncodeMechanism,
                                           DecodeMechanism eDecodeMechanism,
                                           rtl_TextEncoding eCharset,
@@ -1656,8 +1656,7 @@ inline rtl::OUString INetURLObject::GetRelURL(rtl::OUString const & rTheBaseURIR
 }
 
 // static
-inline bool INetURLObject::translateToExternal(ByteString const &
-                                                   rTheIntURIRef,
+inline bool INetURLObject::translateToExternal(const rtl::OString& rTheIntURIRef,
                                                rtl::OUString & rTheExtURIRef,
                                                DecodeMechanism
                                                    eDecodeMechanism,
@@ -1683,7 +1682,7 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::translateToExternal(rtl::OUString const &
 }
 
 // static
-inline bool INetURLObject::translateToInternal(ByteString const &
+inline bool INetURLObject::translateToInternal(const rtl::OString&
                                                    rTheExtURIRef,
                                                rtl::OUString & rTheIntURIRef,
                                                DecodeMechanism
@@ -1709,11 +1708,11 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::translateToInternal(rtl::OUString const &
                            eDecodeMechanism, eCharset);
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::SetPass(ByteString const & rThePassword,
+inline bool INetURLObject::SetPass(const rtl::OString& rThePassword,
                                    EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                    rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
-    return rThePassword.Len() == 0 ?
+    return rThePassword.isEmpty() ?
                clearPassword() :
                setPassword(extend(rThePassword), true, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
@@ -1722,18 +1721,18 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::SetPass(rtl::OUString const & rThePassword,
                                    EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                    rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
-    return rThePassword.getLength() == 0 ?
+    return rThePassword.isEmpty() ?
                clearPassword() :
                setPassword(rThePassword, false, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::SetUserAndPass(ByteString const & rTheUser,
-                                          ByteString const & rThePassword,
+inline bool INetURLObject::SetUserAndPass(const rtl::OString& rTheUser,
+                                          const rtl::OString& rThePassword,
                                           EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                           rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
     return setUser(extend(rTheUser), true, eMechanism, eCharset)
-           && (rThePassword.Len() == 0 ?
+           && (rThePassword.isEmpty() ?
                    clearPassword() :
                    setPassword(extend(rThePassword), true, eMechanism,
                                eCharset));
@@ -1745,7 +1744,7 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::SetUserAndPass(rtl::OUString const & rTheUser,
                                           rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
     return setUser(rTheUser, false, eMechanism, eCharset)
-           && (rThePassword.getLength() == 0 ?
+           && (rThePassword.isEmpty() ?
                    clearPassword() :
                    setPassword(rThePassword, false, eMechanism, eCharset));
 }
@@ -1761,11 +1760,11 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::insertName(rtl::OUString const & rTheName,
                       bIgnoreFinalSlash, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::SetParam(ByteString const & rTheQuery,
+inline bool INetURLObject::SetParam(const rtl::OString& rTheQuery,
                                     EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                     rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
-    return rTheQuery.Len() == 0 ?
+    return rTheQuery.isEmpty() ?
                clearQuery() :
                setQuery(extend(rTheQuery), true, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
@@ -1774,16 +1773,16 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::SetParam(rtl::OUString const & rTheQuery,
                                     EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                     rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
-    return rTheQuery.getLength() == 0 ?
+    return rTheQuery.isEmpty() ?
                clearQuery() :
                setQuery(rTheQuery, false, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
 
-inline bool INetURLObject::SetMark(ByteString const & rTheFragment,
+inline bool INetURLObject::SetMark(const rtl::OString& rTheFragment,
                                    EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                    rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
-    return rTheFragment.Len() == 0 ?
+    return rTheFragment.isEmpty() ?
                clearFragment() :
                setFragment(extend(rTheFragment), true, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
@@ -1792,7 +1791,7 @@ inline bool INetURLObject::SetMark(rtl::OUString const & rTheFragment,
                                    EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                    rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
 {
-    return rTheFragment.getLength() == 0 ?
+    return rTheFragment.isEmpty() ?
                clearFragment() :
                setFragment(rTheFragment, false, eMechanism, eCharset);
 }
@@ -1805,7 +1804,7 @@ inline INetURLObject::INetURLObject(rtl::OUString const & rFSysPath,
 }
 
 // static
-inline rtl::OUString INetURLObject::encode(ByteString const & rText, Part ePart,
+inline rtl::OUString INetURLObject::encode(const rtl::OString& rText, Part ePart,
                                        sal_Char cEscapePrefix,
                                        EncodeMechanism eMechanism,
                                        rtl_TextEncoding eCharset)
diff --git a/tools/source/inet/inetstrm.cxx b/tools/source/inet/inetstrm.cxx
index 6fc8df2d2ed8..a11f22d4712c 100644
--- a/tools/source/inet/inetstrm.cxx
+++ b/tools/source/inet/inetstrm.cxx
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 // MARKER(update_precomp.py): autogen include statement, do not remove
 #include "precompiled_tools.hxx"
+#include <comphelper/string.hxx>
 #include <sal/types.h>
 #include <rtl/memory.h>
 #include <rtl/strbuf.hxx>
@@ -510,7 +511,7 @@ int INetMessageOStream::PutMsgLine (const sal_Char *pData, sal_uIntPtr nSize)
                 aField.Copy (0, nPos));
             ByteString aValue (
                 aField.Copy (nPos + 1, aField.Len() - nPos + 1));
-            aValue.EraseLeadingChars (' ');
+            aValue = comphelper::string::stripStart(aValue, ' ');
 
             pTargetMsg->SetHeaderField (
                 INetMessageHeader (aName, aValue));
@@ -1298,8 +1299,8 @@ INetMIMEMessageStream::GetMsgEncoding (const String& rContentType)
             if (rContentType.GetTokenCount ('=') > 1)
             {
                 String aCharset (rContentType.GetToken (1, '='));
-                aCharset.EraseLeadingChars (' ');
-                aCharset.EraseLeadingChars ('"');
+                aCharset = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCharset, ' ');
+                aCharset = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCharset, '"');
 
                 if (aCharset.CompareIgnoreCaseToAscii ("us-ascii", 8) == 0)
                     return INETMSG_ENCODING_7BIT;
diff --git a/vcl/generic/fontmanager/fontmanager.cxx b/vcl/generic/fontmanager/fontmanager.cxx
index 3d95034160e8..789e57d8f92c 100644
--- a/vcl/generic/fontmanager/fontmanager.cxx
+++ b/vcl/generic/fontmanager/fontmanager.cxx
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@
 #include <valgrind/callgrind.h>
 #endif
 
-#include "comphelper/processfactory.hxx"
+#include <comphelper/processfactory.hxx>
+#include <comphelper/string.hxx>
 #include "com/sun/star/beans/XMaterialHolder.hpp"
 #include "com/sun/star/beans/NamedValue.hpp"
 
@@ -2085,9 +2086,9 @@ void PrintFontManager::initFontsAlias()
             ByteString aMap     = GetCommandLineToken( 1, aLine );
 
             // remove eventual quotes
-            aAlias.EraseLeadingChars( '"' );
+            aAlias = comphelper::string::stripStart(aAlias, '"');
             aAlias.EraseTrailingChars( '"' );
-            aMap.EraseLeadingChars( '"' );
+            aMap = comphelper::string::stripStart(aMap, '"');
             aMap.EraseTrailingChars( '"' );
 
             XLFDEntry aAliasEntry, aMapEntry;
diff --git a/vcl/unx/generic/printer/ppdparser.cxx b/vcl/unx/generic/printer/ppdparser.cxx
index 7eec1f74d24d..e3b797005fce 100644
--- a/vcl/unx/generic/printer/ppdparser.cxx
+++ b/vcl/unx/generic/printer/ppdparser.cxx
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 #include <boost/unordered_map.hpp>
 
+#include <comphelper/string.hxx>
 #include "vcl/ppdparser.hxx"
 #include "vcl/strhelper.hxx"
 #include "vcl/helper.hxx"
@@ -604,13 +605,13 @@ String PPDParser::getPPDPrinterName( const String& rFile )
             if( aCurLine.CompareIgnoreCaseToAscii( "*include:", 9 ) == COMPARE_EQUAL )
             {
                 aCurLine.Erase( 0, 9 );
-                aCurLine.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+                aCurLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCurLine, ' ');
                 aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
-                aCurLine.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+                aCurLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCurLine, '\t');
                 aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '\t' );
                 aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '\r' );
                 aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '\n' );
-                aCurLine.EraseLeadingChars( '"' );
+                aCurLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCurLine, '"');
                 aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '"' );
                 aStream.Close();
                 aStream.Open( getPPDFile( aCurLine ) );
@@ -703,13 +704,13 @@ PPDParser::PPDParser( const String& rFile ) :
                 if( aCurLine.CompareIgnoreCaseToAscii( "*include:", 9 ) == COMPARE_EQUAL )
                 {
                     aCurLine.Erase( 0, 9 );
-                    aCurLine.EraseLeadingChars( ' ' );
+                    aCurLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCurLine, ' ');
                     aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( ' ' );
-                    aCurLine.EraseLeadingChars( '\t' );
+                    aCurLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCurLine, '\t');
                     aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '\t' );
                     aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '\r' );
                     aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '\n' );
-                    aCurLine.EraseLeadingChars( '"' );
+                    aCurLine = comphelper::string::stripStart(aCurLine, '"');
                     aCurLine.EraseTrailingChars( '"' );
                     aStream.Close();
                     aStream.Open( getPPDFile( String( aCurLine, m_aFileEncoding ) ) );