//initiates the XMLHttpRequest object
//as found here: http://www.webpasties.com/xmlHttpRequest
function aL_createHTTPObject() {
 var xmlhttp;
 //ie hack
 /*@cc_on
 @if (@_jscript_version >= 5)
  try {
   xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
  } catch (e) {
   try {
    xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
   } catch (E) {
    xmlhttp = false;
   }
  }
 @else
  xmlhttp = false;
 @end @*/
 if (!xmlhttp && typeof XMLHttpRequest!="undefined") {
  try {
   xmlhttp= new XMLHttpRequest();
  } catch (e) {
   xmlhttp= false;
  }
 }
 return xmlhttp;
}

function aL_openHTTPObject(httpObj, methodStr, urlStr, asyncFlag, handleFunction,  headerStr1, headerStr2, paramStr) {
// alert("aL_openHTTPObject");
 httpObj.open(methodStr, urlStr, asyncFlag);
 if (headerStr1 && headerStr2) httpObj.setRequestHeader(headerStr1, headerStr2);
 if (handleFunction) httpObj.onreadystatechange= handleFunction; 
 httpObj.send(paramStr);
}