//
    //  Cookie Functions - Second Helping  (21-Jan-96)
    //  Written by:  Bill Dortch, hIdaho Design <bdortch@netw.com>
    //  The following functions are released to the public domain.
    //
    //  The Second Helping version of the cookie functions dispenses with
    //  my encode and decode functions, in favor of JavaScript's new built-in
    //  escape and unescape functions, which do more complete encoding, and
    //  which are probably much faster.
    //
    //  The new version also extends the SetCookie function, though in
    //  a backward-compatible manner, so if you used the First Helping of
    //  cookie functions as they were written, you will not need to change any
    //  code, unless you want to take advantage of the new capabilities.
    //
    //  The following changes were made to SetCookie:
    //
    //  1.  The expires parameter is now optional - that is, you can omit
    //      it instead of passing it null to expire the cookie at the end
    //      of the current session.
    //
    //  2.  An optional path parameter has been added.
    //
    //  3.  An optional domain parameter has been added.
    //
    //  4.  An optional secure parameter has been added.
    //
    //  For information on the significance of these parameters, and
    //  and on cookies in general, please refer to the official cookie
    //  spec, at:
    //
    //      http://www.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html    
    //
    //
    
    //
    //  Function to return the value of the cookie specified by "name".
    //    name - String object containing the cookie name.
    //    returns - String object containing the cookie value, or null if
    //      the cookie does not exist.
    //
    function GetCookie (name) {
	  var arg = name + "=";
      var alen = arg.length;
	  var allcookies = document.cookie;
      var start = allcookies.indexOf(arg);
	  if (start == -1) return null;
	  start+=alen;
	  var end = allcookies.indexOf(";",start);
	  if (end == -1) end = allcookies.length;
	  return allcookies.substring(start,end);
    }

    //
    //  Function to create or update a cookie.
    //    name - String object object containing the cookie name.
    //    value - String object containing the cookie value.  May contain
    //      any valid string characters.
    //    [expires] - Date object containing the expiration data of the cookie.  If
    //      omitted or null, expires the cookie at the end of the current session.
    //    [path] - String object indicating the path for which the cookie is valid.
    //      If omitted or null, uses the path of the calling document.
    //    [domain] - String object indicating the domain for which the cookie is
    //      valid.  If omitted or null, uses the domain of the calling document.
    //    [secure] - Boolean (true/false) value indicating whether cookie transmission
    //      requires a secure channel (HTTPS).  
    //
    //  The first two parameters are required.  The others, if supplied, must
    //  be passed in the order listed above.  To omit an unused optional field,
    //  use null as a place holder.  For example, to call SetCookie using name,
    //  value and path, you would code:
    //
    //      SetCookie ("myCookieName", "myCookieValue", null, "/");
    //
    //  Note that trailing omitted parameters do not require a placeholder.
    //
    //  To set a secure cookie for path "/myPath", that expires after the
    //  current session, you might code:
    //
    //      SetCookie (myCookieVar, cookieValueVar, null, "/myPath", null, true);
    //
    function SetCookie (name, value) {
	  var argv = SetCookie.arguments;
      var argc = SetCookie.arguments.length;
      var expires = (argc > 2) ? argv[2] : null;
      var path = (argc > 3) ? argv[3] : "/";
      var domain = (argc > 4) ? argv[4] : null;
      var secure = (argc > 5) ? argv[5] : false;
	  document.cookie = name + "=" + escape (value) +
        ((expires == null) ? "" : ("; expires=" + expires.toGMTString())) +
        ((path == null) ? "" : ("; path=" + path)) +
        ((domain == null) ? "" : ("; domain=" + domain)) +
        ((secure == true) ? "; secure" : "");
    }

    //  Function to delete a cookie. (Sets expiration date to current date/time)
    //    name - String object containing the cookie name
    //
    function DeleteCookie (name) {
	  var exp = new Date();
      exp.setTime (exp.getTime() - 100);  // This cookie is history
      var cval = GetCookie (name);
      document.cookie = name + "=" + cval + "; expires=" + exp.toGMTString();
    }
	
	// Function to check a cookie. (Sets cookie to value if cookie is new.)
	//   name - String object containing the cookie name
	//   value - String object containing the new cookie value
	function CheckCookie (name,value)
	{
		if (value!=null) {SetCookie(name,value);}
		return GetCookie(name);
	}
	
	function MakeBoolean (value)
	{
		return (value!=null&&value=="true")?true:false;
	}