diff --git a/WFObj.cc b/WFObj.cc
index f9dbb8d..8f163f1 100644
--- a/WFObj.cc
+++ b/WFObj.cc
@@ -20,14 +20,12 @@ using namespace std;
 
 /****** static functions ******/
 
-static string trimString(string s)
+static string trimString(const string in)
 {
-    size_t lastpos = s.find_last_not_of(WHITESPACE);
-    if (lastpos == string::npos)
+    size_t firstpos = in.find_first_not_of(WHITESPACE);
+    if (firstpos == string::npos)
         return "";
-    s.erase(lastpos + 1);
-    s.erase(0, s.find_first_not_of(WHITESPACE));
-    return s;
+    return string(in, firstpos, in.find_last_not_of(WHITESPACE) - firstpos + 1);
 }
 
 static string stripFirstToken(string & input)
@@ -41,6 +39,20 @@ static string stripFirstToken(string & input)
     return token;
 }
 
+vector<string> tokenize(const string & input)
+{
+    vector<string> tokens;
+    string in = input;
+    for (;;)
+    {
+        string token = stripFirstToken(in);
+        if (token == "")
+            break;
+        tokens.push_back(token);
+    }
+    return tokens;
+}
+
 static vector<string> splitString(const string & str, char delim)
 {
     vector<string> ret;
@@ -134,8 +146,7 @@ bool WFObj::load(const WFObj::Buffer &buff)
     size_t idx = 0;
     while (idx < buff.length)
     {
-        string line = getLine(buff, idx, &idx);
-        string input = trimString(line);
+        string input = trimString(getLine(buff, idx, &idx));
         int sz = input.size();
         if (sz == 0 || input[0] == '#')
             continue;
@@ -182,14 +193,7 @@ string WFObj::getLine(const Buffer & buff, size_t idx, size_t *update_idx)
 void WFObj::processInputLine(const std::string & input)
 {
     string line = input;
-    vector<string> tokens;
-    for (;;)
-    {
-        string token = stripFirstToken(line);
-        if (token == "")
-            break;
-        tokens.push_back(token);
-    }
+    vector<string> tokens = tokenize(line);
 
     if (tokens.size() == 0)
         return;