diff --git a/src/emu/netlist/pstring.c b/src/emu/netlist/pstring.c
index e60f950be1d..3f19cc16a89 100644
--- a/src/emu/netlist/pstring.c
+++ b/src/emu/netlist/pstring.c
@@ -88,6 +88,53 @@ pstring pstring::ucase() const
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int pstring::find_first_not_of(const pstring no) const
+{
+	for (int i=0; i < len(); i++)
+	{
+		bool f = true;
+		for (int j=0; j < no.len(); j++)
+			if (m_ptr->m_str[i] == no.m_ptr->m_str[j])
+				f = false;
+		if (f)
+			return i;
+	}
+	return -1;
+}
+
+int pstring::find_last_not_of(const pstring no) const
+{
+	for (int i=len() - 1; i >= 0; i--)
+	{
+		bool f = true;
+		for (int j=0; j < no.len(); j++)
+			if (m_ptr->m_str[i] == no.m_ptr->m_str[j])
+				f = false;
+		if (f)
+			return i;
+	}
+	return -1;
+}
+
+
+pstring pstring::ltrim(const pstring ws) const
+{
+	int f = find_first_not_of(ws);
+	if (f>=0)
+		return substr(f);
+	else
+		return "";
+}
+
+pstring pstring::rtrim(const pstring ws) const
+{
+	int f = find_last_not_of(ws);
+	if (f>=0)
+		return left(f+1);
+	else
+		return "";
+}
+
 //-------------------------------------------------
 //  pcmpi - compare a character array to an nstring
 //-------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/emu/netlist/pstring.h b/src/emu/netlist/pstring.h
index b2b5cd0ae91..6ed539e0c13 100644
--- a/src/emu/netlist/pstring.h
+++ b/src/emu/netlist/pstring.h
@@ -155,6 +155,15 @@ public:
 	inline pstring left(unsigned int count) const { return substr(0, count); }
 	inline pstring right(unsigned int count) const  { return substr(len() - count, count); }
 
+	int find_first_not_of(const pstring no) const;
+	int find_last_not_of(const pstring no) const;
+
+	pstring ltrim(const pstring ws = " \t\n\r") const;
+	pstring rtrim(const pstring ws = " \t\n\r") const;
+
+
+	inline pstring trim(const pstring ws = " \t\n\r") const { return this->ltrim(ws).rtrim(ws); }
+
 	pstring ucase() const;
 
 	// conversions