// 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] : "#fff";
	var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#eee";
	
	// 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 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;
		}
	}
}