// this function is needed to work around a bug in IE related to element attributes
function hasClass(obj) {
   var result = false;
   if (obj.getAttributeNode("class") != null) {
       result = obj.getAttributeNode("class").value;
   }
   return result;
}
function stripe(id) {
  // the flag we'll use to keep track of whether the current row is odd or even
  var even = false;
  // if arguments are provided to specify the colours of the even & odd rows,
  // then use the them; otherwise use the following defaults:
  var evenColor = arguments[1] ? arguments[1] : "#e9e9e9";
  var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#fff";
  // obtain a reference to the desired table if no such table exists, abort
  var table = document.getElementById(id);
  if (! table) { return; }
  // by definition, tables can have more than one tbody element,
  // so we'll have to get the list of child <tbody>s
  var tbodies = table.getElementsByTagName("tbody");
  // and iterate through them...
  for (var h = 0; h < tbodies.length; h++) {
    // find all the &lt;tr&gt; elements...
    var trs = tbodies[h].getElementsByTagName("tr");
    // ... and iterate through them
    for (var i = 0; i < trs.length; i++) {
      // avoid rows that have a "skipStripe" style or backgroundColor style
      var clz = hasClass(trs[i]);
      if (clz == "skipStripe") {
        trs[i].style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor: oddColor;
        continue;
      }
      if (!clz &&
          !trs[i].style.backgroundColor) {
        trs[i].style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor: oddColor;
      }
      /*
      // avoid rows that have a class attribute or backgroundColor style
      if (! hasClass(trs[i]) &&
          ! trs[i].style.backgroundColor) {
        // get all the cells in this row...
        var tds = trs[i].getElementsByTagName("td");
        // and iterate through them...
        for (var j = 0; j < tds.length; j++) {
          var mytd = tds[j];
          // avoid cells that have a class attribute
          // or backgroundColor style
          if (! hasClass(mytd) &&
              ! mytd.style.backgroundColor) {
            mytd.style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor : oddColor;
          }
        }
      }
      */
      // flip from odd to even, or vice-versa
      even =  ! even;
    }
  }
}