in reply to perl -pi -e s'/^\s+//'g $file

The equivalent of your one-liner without a system call: 
{
    local @ARGV = ($file);
    local $^I = '.bac';
    while(<>){
        s/^\s+//;
        print;
    }
}

[download]

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: perl -pi -e s'/^\s+//'g $file
by david_lyon (Sexton) on Apr 08, 2011 at 02:24 UTC
    Thanks again wind very nicely done....I will start using it.
[reply]

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom