how to remove blank spaces in file

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

hi
i have a file which store some data.the contents of my file is
data1:data2
data3:data4

i have a script which read this file

correct="$(cat  /root/sh | cut -d: -f1)"

i used this syntax..please help me which syntax is used to remove blank spaces..then how to read this file..

2

I am not sure if I get your question. Are you talking about leading white spaces?

IFS might just be what you are after. Check out