Post Calculation Computation - Trim

Question

I have an item with the source type of Database column that's coming in with a single space.
when display on the page the user has to delete the space to clear out the space.
I've tried the "Post Calculation Computation" which is pretty straight forward with the Trim and the space still appears.
What I've tried.
Trim(:P8_FUND)
Ltrim(:P8_FUND,' ')
nullif(:P8_FUND,' ')
Non of the above are working.
When I tried the next statement just for a test, the space was removed and the xx appeared, so I can't figure way the above examples won't work????
TRIM(:P8_FUND) || 'xx'

Answer 1

I'm using Apex 3.2.
I created a Trim function and added it to my Load_Start function and the item still has the leading space.
Do you see anything in my code that's not right?
HTML Body
onLoad="Load_Start()";
HTML Header
function Load_Start()
hide_item('P8_FRS_ACCT','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_item('P8_FRS_SUBCODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_FUND_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_ORGN_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_ACCT_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_PROG_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_ACTV_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_ACCI_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_popuplov('P8_LOC_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL1');
hide_item('P8_FRS_OFFSET_ACCT','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_item('P8_FRS_OFFSET_SUBCODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_FUND_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_ORGN_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_ACCT_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_PROG_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_ACTV_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_ACCI_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
hide_popuplov('P8_OFFSET_LOC_CODE','P8_HIDE_COL2');
setFocus('P8_PAGE_FOCUS');
trim('P8_FUND_CODE',' ');
if ($x('P8_FI_ACCOUNT_TYPE').value != "F")
{$x_HideItemRow('P8_FRS_ACCT');
$x_HideItemRow('P8_FRS_SUBCODE');
function trim(str, chars) {
     return ltrim(rtrim(str, chars), chars);
}