mysql: How can I remove character at start or end of field

Question

I have field that contains a comma-separated list. Some old records have a comma at the beginning or end of the field. I need to remove these extra commas.

Example:

,the,their,then to the,their,then

or

the,their,then, to the,their,then

EDIT: I am looking for an UPDATE statement. I need to change the records.

Answer 1

Check this website

SELECT TRIM(TRAILING 'xyz' FROM 'barxxyz'); 

which in your case would be ',' instead of 'xyz'

Answer 2

@codingbiz, Thank you for the website link:

Quick examples:

SELECT TRIM(BOTH ',' FROM fieldname) from tablename  SELECT TRIM(LEADING ',' FROM fieldname) from tablename  SELECT TRIM(TRAILING ',' FROM fieldname) from tablename 

Thanks!