var CR = "\n";
var LF = "\r";
var TAB = "\t";
var BR = "<br />" + CR;

//this function checks for null, undefined, or zero length string value
function isNothing(v)		{ 
								v = new String(v);
								return ( v == 'undefined' || v == 'null' || v.length == 0 ? true : false );
							}

//	VARIABLES TO USE WITH DHTML OBJECTS
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
var isDOM = (document.getElementById ? true : false); 
var isIE4 = ((document.all && !isDOM) ? true : false);
var isNS4 = (document.layers ? true : false);

function getRef(id) {
	if (isDOM) return document.getElementById(id);
	if (isIE4) return document.all[id];
	if (isNS4) return document.layers[id];
}
function getSty(id) {
	return (isNS4 ? getRef(id) : getRef(id).style);
}