function get_request_object(){
	// get xmlhttp object
	var xmlHttp;
	  try{xmlHttp=new XMLHttpRequest();}
	  catch(e){
	  	try{xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");}
	    catch (e){
			try{xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");}
			catch (e){
		      	alert("Your browser does not support AJAX!");
		      	return false;
	}}}
	return xmlHttp;
}
function make_post_request(arrayData,url){
	var xmlHttp = get_request_object();
	// define url and perameters
	var queryStringArgs = new Array();
	var i = 0;
	for(id in arrayData){
		queryStringArgs[i] = id + "=" + arrayData[id];
		i = i + 1;
	}
	if(queryStringArgs.length > 1){queryString = queryStringArgs.join("&");}
	else queryString = queryStringArgs[0];
	
	var params = queryString;
	
	
	/* data gather test code : output to page for imediate review
	 document.write(params);
	 return null;
	//*/
	var http = xmlHttp;
	http.open("POST", url, true);
	
	//Send the proper header information along with the request
	http.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
	http.setRequestHeader("Content-length", params.length);
	http.setRequestHeader("Connection", "close");
	    
	http.onreadystatechange = function() {//Call a function when the state changes.
		if(http.readyState == 4 && http.status == 200){}
	}
	http.send(params);
		
}

function make_simple_request(url,contentId){
	var xmlHttp = get_request_object();
	xmlHttp.onreadystatechange = function(){
		if(xmlHttp.readyState == 4){
			document.getElementById(contentId).innerHTML += xmlHttp.responseText;
		} 
	}
	xmlHttp.open("GET",url,true);	//async
	xmlHttp.send(null);
}
function addVideoEmbed(id,url){
	var embedString = "<button onclick='location.reload(true)'>Click Here to Go Back to the Menu</button><br /><embed src='" + url + "' width='100%' height='500' style='background-color:white'></embed>";/*/
	var embedString = "\
		\
		<button onclick='location.reload(true)' >Refresh This Page</button><object classid='clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000' codebase='http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0' width='468' height='60' id='mymoviename'>\
			<param name='movie'	value='example.swf' />\
			<param name='quality' value='high' />\
			<param name='bgcolor' value='#ffffff' />\
			<embed src='example.swf' quality='high' bgcolor='#ffffff' width='468' height='60' name='mymoviename' align="" type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer'>\
			</embed>\
		</object>";
	//*/
	document.getElementById(id).innerHTML = embedString;
}