private static String trimLeadingSlash(String value){
  if (value == null)   return "";
  while (value.indexOf("/") > -1) {
    value=value.substring(value.indexOf("/") + 1);
  }
  return value;
}

private static String trimLeadingSlash ( String value ) { if ( value == null ) return "" ; while ( value . indexOf ( "/" ) > - 1 ) { value = value . substring ( value . indexOf ( "/" ) + 1 ) ; } return value ; }
returns a version of the value after removing any leading slashes
