// 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] : "#ECF5FA";

	// 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;
	  }
	}
  }