One of the newer features in DB2 is extended trimming capability in the functions LTRIM and RTRIM. Since Fixpack 2 of DB2 10.1 both functions have an optional second parameter which is used to specify the characters to be removed from the beginning or end of a string. Before it was only possible to remove blanks. If the second parameter is omitted, blanks are removed by default.
To trim your calories you could do the following:
db2 => values rtrim('All I eat: marzipan, vegetables, fruits',' ,abefgilrstuv')
1
---------------------------------------
All I eat: marzipan
1 record(s) selected.
The enhanced LTRIM and RTRIM functions can be used together with other functions of course:
db2 => values replace(ltrim('jogging and eating are great',' adgijno'),'are','is')
1
----------------------------
eating is great
1 record(s) selected.
The examples are just some food for thought about what is possible.