var whitespace = " \t\n\r";	
	function isEmpty(s)
	{
	   var i;
	   if((s == null) || (s.length == 0))
		  return true;
	   // Search string looking for characters that are not whitespace
	   for (i = 0; i < s.length; i++)    
		{   
		  var c = s.charAt(i);
		  if (whitespace.indexOf(c) == -1) 
			return false;
		}
		// At this point all characters are whitespace.
		return true;
	}
function emailCheck (emailStr) {
     var emailPat=/^(.+)@(.+)$/;
     var specialChars="\\(\\)<>@,;:\\\\\\\"\\.\\[\\]";
     var validChars="\[^\\s" + specialChars + "\]";
     var quotedUser="(\"[^\"]*\")";
     var ipDomainPat=/^\[(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\]$/;
     var atom=validChars + '+';
     var word="(" + atom + "|" + quotedUser + ")";
     var userPat=new RegExp("^" + word + "(\\." + word + ")*$");
     var domainPat=new RegExp("^" + atom + "(\\." + atom +")*$");

     var matchArray=emailStr.match(emailPat);
     if (matchArray==null) {
        //alert("Email address seems incorrect (check @ and .'s)")
        return false;
     }
     var user=matchArray[1];
     var domain=matchArray[2];

     if (user.match(userPat)==null) {
        //alert("The username doesn't seem to be valid.")
        return false;
     }

     var IPArray=domain.match(ipDomainPat);
     if (IPArray!=null) {
        for (var i=1;i<=4;i++) {
           if (IPArray[i]>255) {
               //alert("Destination IP address is invalid!")
               return false;
           }
         }
     return true;
     }

     var domainArray=domain.match(domainPat);
     if (domainArray==null) {
       //alert("The domain name doesn't seem to be valid.")
       return false;
     }

     var atomPat=new RegExp(atom,"g");
     var domArr=domain.match(atomPat);
     var len=domArr.length;
     if ((domArr[domArr.length-1].length<2) || (domArr[domArr.length-1].length>3)) {
       //alert("The address must end in a three-letter domain, or two letter country.")
       return false;
     }

     if (len<2) {
       //var errStr="This address is missing a hostname!"
       //alert(errStr)
       return false;
    }

     return true;
   }
   function ltrim(stringToTrim) {
	   return stringToTrim.replace(/^\s+/,"");
    }
	function createRequestObject(){
	var req = false;
  	
	if(window.XMLHttpRequest){
		req = new XMLHttpRequest();
		
		if(req.overrideMimeType){ req.overrideMimeType('text/xml'); }
	} 
	else if(window.ActiveXObject){
		try{ req = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); }
		catch(e){
			try{ req = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); }
			catch(e){}
		}
	}
	
	if(!req){
		document.getElementById('progress_info').innerHTML = "Error: Your browser does not support AJAX";
		return false;
	}
	else{ return req; }	
}