function UpdateFieldValue(which_element, final_value){
		with (window.document) {
			which_element.value = final_value
			//alert(which_element.name + " = " + which_element.value)
		}
	}


	function SubmitForm(which_form, field_str)
	{
		// CHECK FOR OPTIONAL ACTION OVERIDE
		my_arr = field_str.split("~#~")
		if (my_arr.length == 2){
			which_form.action = my_arr[0]
			field_str = my_arr[1]
		} else {
			field_str = my_arr[0]
		}

		field_arr = field_str.split("|")

		with (window.document) {
			for ( i=0; i < which_form.elements.length; i++ ) {
				current_name = which_form.elements[i].name

				for (j=0; j < field_arr.length; j++){
					data_arr = field_arr[j].split("~=~")
					if (current_name == data_arr[0]) {

						UpdateFieldValue(which_form.elements[i], data_arr[1]);
						break
					}
				}
			}
		}

		which_form.submit()
	}

	function ValueCheck(StrValue,CheckValue, strMsg)
	{
		if (StrValue == CheckValue)
		{ 
			if (fCheck)
			{                     
				alert(strMsg)
				fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}


	function IntCheck(IntValue, strMsg)
	{
		if (isNaN(IntValue))
		{   
			if (fCheck)
			{                    
				alert(strMsg)
				fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}


	function LengthCheck(StrValue, FieldName, MaxLength)
	{
		if (StrValue.length > MaxLength)
		{   
			if (fCheck)
			{   
				var substr = StrValue.substring(StrValue.length,MaxLength) 
             
				alert("you have exceeded the " + MaxLength + " character limit for the " + FieldName + " field\nthe following text will need to be removed:\n\n" + substr)
				fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}


	function SelectCheck(OptionValue,CheckValue, strMsg)
	{
		if (OptionValue == CheckValue)
		{ 
			if (fCheck)
			{                     
				alert(strMsg)
				fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}

	function IsHttp(StrValue, strMsg)
	{

		var reg_exp1 = new RegExp("http://")
		var reg_exp2 = new RegExp("https:///")
		var reg_exp3 = new RegExp("ftp:///")

		if ((StrValue.search(reg_exp1) != 0) && (StrValue.search(reg_exp2) != 0) && (StrValue.search(reg_exp3) != 0))
		{ 
			if (fCheck)
			{                     
				alert(strMsg)
				fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}

	function ValidateFormInput(StrValue, field_name)
	{

		var reg_exp1 = new RegExp("[^a-zA-Z0-9\.]")

		if (StrValue.search(reg_exp1) != -1)
		{ 
			if (fCheck)
			{                     
				alert("the " + field_name + " field can only contain letters, numbers and the full stop character\nplease try again")
				fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}

	function testUrl(which_field)
	{
		fCheck = true
		// Which_field is compiled on the page as this.form.field_name
		ValueCheck(which_field.value, "", "You must first enter a url to test");
		IsHttp(which_field.value, "Your url must be prefixed by one of the following protocols in order to link correctly\n\nA. 'http://'\nB. 'https://'\nC. 'ftp://'");

		if (fCheck)
		{
			window.open(which_field.value , "displaywindow", "width=400,height=300,toolbar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,menubar=no,status=no,directories=no,location=yes");
		}
	}


	//function PhoneNumCheck(strFieldValue, FieldName)
	//{

	//	var PhonePat1 = /\d{2}\s\d{4}\s\d{4}/ 		// XX XXXX XXXX
	//	var PhonePat2 = /\d{4}\s\d{3}\s\d{3}/ 		// XXXX XXX XXX
	//	var PhonePat3 = /\d{2}\s\d{2}\s\d{2}/		// XX XX XX

		// if (str is blank or ((is 12 digit matching XX XXXX XXXX) OR (is 12 digit matching XXXX XXX XXX) OR (is 8 digit matching XX XX XX)))

	// 	if ((strFieldValue == "") || ((strFieldValue.search(PhonePat1) == 0) && (strFieldValue.length == 12)) || ((strFieldValue.search(PhonePat2) == 0) && (strFieldValue.length == 12)) || ((strFieldValue.search(PhonePat3) == 0) && (strFieldValue.length == 8)))
	//	{    
	//		return
	//	} else {                  
	//		if (fCheck)
	//		{
	//			alert(FieldName + " must: \n\nA. contain numbers and spaces only\nB. conform to one of the following patterns:\n\n1. 00 0000 0000\n2. 0000 000 000\n3. 000 000")
	//			fCheck = false
	//		}
	//	}
	//}


	function EmailCheck( StrValue, isRequired )
	{

		if ( (isRequired == 0) && (StrValue.length == 0) ) {
			return;
		}

        if (fCheck)
        {   

			var disallowStr = ",!#$%^<>&*;:~` '\"#\\|/"

			for ( var i = 0 ; i < StrValue.length ; i++ ){
				for ( var n = 0 ; n < disallowStr.length ; n++ ){
					if ( disallowStr.substring(n, n + 1) == StrValue.substring(i, i + 1) ) {
						alert("An illegal character [ " + disallowStr.substring(n, n + 1) + " ] was found in the email address");
						fCheck = false;
						return
					}
				}
			}

            var myArr = StrValue.split("@");

            if ( myArr.length != 2 ) {
                alert("there must be a single '@' symbol in the email address");
                fCheck = false;
				return;
            }

            if ( myArr[0].length == 0 ) {
                alert("no user has been specified within the email address");
                fCheck = false;
				return;
            }

            if ( myArr[1].length == 0 ) {
                alert("no domain has been specified within the email address");
                fCheck = false;
				return;
            }

            var dotArr = myArr[1].split(".")

            if ( dotArr.length < 2 ) {
                alert("please provide a suffix for the domain in your email address \( ie: .com, .org or country code\) ");
                fCheck = false;
				return;
            }

			for (i=0; i<dotArr.length; i++) {
				if ( dotArr[i].length < 1 ) {
					alert(error_prefix + "Each element in the domain must be at least one character long \( ie: @a.b.com\)");
					fCheck = false;
					return;
				}
			}

		}
	}


	function AtLeastOneSelected(which_form, element_name, check_mode, alert_message){
		if (fCheck) {
			fCheck = false;
			with (window.document) {
				for ( i=0; i < which_form.elements.length; i++ ) {
					current_name = which_form.elements[i].name
					if (current_name.substring(0,element_name.length) == element_name) {
						if ((check_mode == "checkbox" && which_form.elements[i].checked == true) || (check_mode == "text_field" && which_form.elements[i].value != "")) {
							fCheck = true;
							break;
						}
					}
				}
			}
			if (fCheck == false){
				alert(alert_message);
			}
		}
	}


	function Validate_pos_neg(which_form)
	{
		if (which_form.pos_neg.selectedIndex == "2")
		{
			which_form.num_days.options.selectedIndex = "0"
		}
	}

	function Validate_num_days(which_form)
	{
		if (which_form.num_days.selectedIndex != "0" && which_form.pos_neg.selectedIndex == "2")
		{
			which_form.pos_neg.options.selectedIndex = "0"
		}
	}

	function YearCheck(StrValue, MaxLength, strMsg)
	{
		if (StrValue.length != MaxLength)
		{   
			if (fCheck)
			{   
			alert(strMsg)
			fCheck = false
			}
		}
	}

	function Validate_date(date_field)
	{
		if (fCheck){

			var my_arr 		= date_field.split("../index.html");
			var format_msg 	= "\n\ndates must be in the format DD/MM/YYYY"

			if (my_arr.length != 3){
				if (my_arr.length == 1){
					alert("the date string provided did not contain any slashes [/] which are used to seperate day/month/year values\nthe date was unable to be validated");
				} else {
					alert("the date string provided contained " + (my_arr.length - 1) + " slashes [/] instead of 2\nthe date was unable to be validated");
				}
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			} 

			// COMFIRM THAT PROVIDED VALUES ARE ALL INTEGERS
			for(var m = 0; m < my_arr.length; m++){
				if (isNaN(my_arr[m])){
					alert("the date string must contain only numbers, please change '" + my_arr[m] + "'");
					fCheck = false;
					return;
				}
			}

			// initialise
			this_day	= my_arr[0];
			this_month	= my_arr[1];
			this_year	= my_arr[2];

			month_arr 	= ['JAN','FEB','MAR','APR','MAY','JUN','JUL','AUG','SEP','OCT','NOV','DEC']

			if (this_year.length != 4){
				alert("please enter a four digit year" + format_msg);
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			}

			if (this_month > 12 || this_month < 1){
				alert("there can only be 12 months in a year, please use a number from 1 - 12" + format_msg);
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			}

			if (this_day < 1){
				alert("the day value must be a number greater than 0" + format_msg);
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			}

			if (this_month == 2){
				if (this_year % 4 == 0 && (this_year % 100 != 0 || this_year % 400 == 0)){
					if (this_day > 29){
						alert("there can only be 29 days in " + month_arr[this_month-1] + " on a leap year");
						fCheck = false;
						return;
					}
				} else {
					if (this_day > 28){
						alert("there can only be 28 days in " + month_arr[this_month-1]);
						fCheck = false;
						return;
					}
				}	
			}

			if (((this_month == 4) || (this_month == 6) || (this_month == 9) || (this_month == 11)) && (this_day > 30)) {
				alert("there can only be 30 days in " + month_arr[this_month-1]);
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			}

			if (this_day > 31){
				alert("there can not be more that 31 days in " + month_arr[this_month-1]);
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			}		
		}

	}

	function Validate_datediff(start_date_name, start_date_value, end_date_name, end_date_value, error_msg){

		Validate_date(start_date_value);
		Validate_date(end_date_value);

		if (fCheck) {

			var start_arr 		= start_date_value.split("../index.html");
			var end_arr 		= end_date_value.split("../index.html");

			// initialise
			var is_error = 1
			var error_str = ""

			start_day		= parseInt(start_arr[0],10);
			start_month		= parseInt(start_arr[1],10);
			start_year		= parseInt(start_arr[2],10);

			end_day			= parseInt(end_arr[0],10);
			end_month		= parseInt(end_arr[1],10);
			end_year		= parseInt(end_arr[2],10);

			if (start_year > end_year){
				error_str = "year"
			} else {
				if ((start_month > end_month) && (start_year == end_year)){
					error_str = "month"
				} else {
					if ((start_day > end_day) && (start_month == end_month) && (start_year == end_year)){
						error_str = "day"
					} else {
						is_error = 0
					}
				}
			}
			if (is_error == 1){
				alert(error_msg + "the selected " + start_date_name + " (" + start_date_value + ") occurs after " + end_date_name + " (" + end_date_value + ")");
				//alert(error_msg + "the selected " + start_date_name + " (" + start_date_value + ") occurs after " + end_date_name + " (" + end_date_value + ") \nthe offending value is the " + error_str + " field");
				fCheck = false;
				return;
			}
		}
	}




	function CheckRanking(which_form, field_name, exclusion_str) {

		loop_count = 0
		fCheck = true

		with (window.document) {
			this_value = which_form.elements.length;
			final_array = new Array();

			for ( i=0; i < this_value; i++ ) {
				item_name = which_form.elements[i].name;

				if (item_name == field_name) {

					for(var m = 0; m < which_form.elements[i].options.length; m++){
						if(which_form.elements[i].options[m].selected){
							item_value = which_form.elements[i].options[m].value

							//	alert("item_value = " + item_value);
						}
					}

					tempstr = item_value;
					finalstr = tempstr.split("_");

					if (finalstr[1] != exclusion_str) {

						final_array[loop_count] = finalstr[1];
    
						for ( n=0; n < loop_count; n++) {
							if (fCheck){
	
								if (final_array[n] == finalstr[1]) {
									fCheck = false;
									alert("there is more than one item ranked in position " + finalstr[1] + "\nplease make sure that all rankings are unique and try again");
									//	alert("failed test\n" + final_array[n] + " = " + finalstr[1]);
								}
								//else {
									//	alert("passed test\n" + final_array[n] + " != " + finalstr[1]);
								//}
							}
						}
						loop_count++;

					} // finalstr[1] is not equal to the exclusion_str value [999]
				}
			}
		}
		if (fCheck) {
			which_form.submit()
		}
	}