function doXmlHttpRequest(get_url, call_back_function, submit_method, message)
{	
	if (submit_method == "" || submit_method == undefined)
		submit_method = "GET";
	
	if (message == "" || message == undefined)
		message = null;
	
	//alert ("Message in XML: "+ message + "Method: "+ submit_method);
	// Object for Mozilla / Safari / Opera
   	if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
	        req = new XMLHttpRequest();
	        req.onreadystatechange = call_back_function;
	        if (submit_method == "POST")
    		    	req.setRequestHeader("Content-Type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
    		    	
	        req.open(submit_method, get_url, true);
	     	req.send(message);
    	
    	// branch for IE/Windows ActiveX version
    	} else if (window.ActiveXObject) {
	        isIE = true;
	        req = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
	        if (req) {
	            req.onreadystatechange = call_back_function;
	            req.open(submit_method, get_url, true);
	            // for ie compatability
    		    //req.setRequestHeader('Content-Type','text/html');
    		    if (submit_method == "POST")
    		    	req.setRequestHeader("Content-Type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
	            req.send(message);
	        }
    	}
}

// empty Topics select list content
function clearTopicList($str) {
    var select = document.getElementById($str);
	select.length = 0;  
}

// set current selected index to none
function selectNone(list){
    list.selectedIndex = -1;
    addIndex = -1;
    selIndex = -1;
}

function selectAll(list){
    
    for(var i=0;i<list.length;i++)
  	list[i].selected=true; 
     	
}
// add item to select element the less
// elegant, but compatible way.
function appendToSelect(select, value, content) {
    var opt;
    opt = document.createElement("option");
    opt.value = value;
    opt.appendChild(content);
    select.appendChild(opt);
}

// fill Topics select list with items from
// the current XML document
function buildTopicList($element, $blank) {
    
    //alert("Building Topic List: "+req.responseText);
    clearTopicList($element);
    
    var select = document.getElementById($element);
    
    // appendToSelect(select, "", document.createTextNode(""));
    var items = req.responseXML.getElementsByTagName("item");
    
    // <item>
    // 	<value>1</value>
    //	<desc>Display Me</desc>
    // <item>
    //
    // loop through <item> elements, and add each nested
    // <value> and <desc> element to select element
    for (var i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
        appendToSelect(select, getElementTextNS("", "value", items[i], 0), document.createTextNode(getElementTextNS("", "desc", items[i], 0)));
		//select.options[i]=new Option(getElementTextNS("", "value", items[i], 0), document.createTextNode(getElementTextNS("", "desc", items[i], 0)));

    }
    
    if ( $blank ) 
    	selectNone(select);
    
}
	
// retrieve text of an XML document element, including
// elements using namespaces
function getElementTextNS(prefix, local, parentElem, index) {
    var result = "";
    if (prefix && isIE) {
        // IE/Windows way of handling namespaces
        result = parentElem.getElementsByTagName(prefix + ":" + local)[index];
    } else {
        
        // the namespace versions of this method 
        // (getElementsByTagNameNS()) operate
        // differently in Safari and Mozilla, but both
        // return value with just local name, provided 
        // there aren't conflicts with non-namespace element
        // names
        result = parentElem.getElementsByTagName(local)[index];
    }
    
    if (result) {
        // get text, accounting for possible
        // whitespace (carriage return) text nodes 
        if (result.childNodes.length > 1) {
            return result.childNodes[1].nodeValue;
        } else {
            return result.firstChild.nodeValue;    		
        }
    } else {
        return "n/a";
    }
}

function buildPOST(theFormName) {
    theForm = document.forms[theFormName];
    var qs = ''
    for (e=0;e<theForm.elements.length;e++) {
        if (theForm.elements[e].name!='') {
            var name = theForm.elements[e].name;
            qs+=(qs=='')?'':'&'
            qs+= name+'='+encodeURIComponent(theForm.elements[e].value);
        }
    }
    qs+="\n";
    return qs
}


function getSize(list){
    /* Mozilla ignores whitespace, 
       IE doesn't - count the elements 
       in the list */
    var len = list.childNodes.length;
    var nsLen = 0;
    //nodeType returns 1 for elements
    for(i=0; i<len; i++){
        if(list.childNodes.item(i).nodeType==1)
            nsLen++;
    }
    if(nsLen<2)
        return 2;
    else
        return nsLen;
}

function setSize(list1){
    list1.size = getSize(list1);
    
}