def rmLeading(input,toremove,toignore=""):
	"""
	Removes leading characters from an input string
	
	Arguments:
	input - the input string
	toremove - the character to remove from the begin of the string
	toignore - ignore this character
	
	Return:
	the input string without the leading character(s)
	"""
	newstring = ""
	cnt = 0
	while cnt < len(input):
		if input[cnt] != toremove and input[cnt] != toignore:
			break
		cnt += 1
	newstring = input[cnt:]
	return newstring