public static function ltrim ( $docComment ) {
        $regexp = array(
                        '|^[\s\t]*(/\*\*)|um' => '\\1',
                        '|^[\s\t]*([ ]\*/)|um' => '\\1',
                        '|^[\s\t]*([ ]\*[ ]*)|um' => '\\1',
                       );
        $patterns = array_keys($regexp);
        $replacements = array_values($regexp);
        $docComment = preg_replace($patterns, $replacements, $docComment);
        $docComment = trim($docComment);
        return $docComment;
    }