//proc to test if value is empty or not
	function isEmpty (testValue) {
		for (var i = 0; i < testValue.length; i++) {
			var c = testValue.charAt(i);
			if ((c != ' ') && (c != '\\n') && (c != '\\t')) return false;
		}
		return true;
	}

	//proc to return a string containing newlines
	function NewLines (count) {
		var retString = '';
		for (var i = 0; i < count; i++) {
			retString = retString + '\n';
		}
		return retString;
	}


	//proc to return true if email is valid or returns false if email is invalid
	function ValidateEmailAddress(testEmail) {
		if (testEmail != '') {
			var atIndex = testEmail.indexOf('@');
			var dotIndex = testEmail.lastIndexOf('.');
			var spaceIndex = testEmail.indexOf(' ');

			if ((atIndex < 1) || (dotIndex == -1) || ( spaceIndex != -1) || (dotIndex - atIndex < 2) || (testEmail.length - dotIndex < 2))
				return false;
		}
		return true;
	}
	

	var submitcount=0;


	//function to validate a form 
	//the form name may be passed in by the form, in which case the form may have any name. However, if the form name 
	//is not passed in, the form must be called theForm; this proc uses the requiredEntryFieldList hidden variable 
	//in the Form to know what fields to validate and what type of validation to perform
	//requiredEntryFieldsList must be of the following format
	//fieldName|fieldType|fieldCaption^fieldName|fieldType|fieldCaption^fieldName|fieldType|fieldCaption...
	//valid fieldType values are email and text all other fieldType values are treated as text	
	function ValidateForm(formName) {

	
		//if a form name was not passed in then assume the form name is "theForm"
		if (arguments.length < 1) {
			formName = "theForm";
		}
			
			
		//get the form object from the document
		var aForm = eval('document.'+ formName);

		//get list of required fields and split string value into an array of fields
		var reqFieldList = aForm.requiredEntryFieldsList.value;
		reqFieldList = reqFieldList.split('^');
		
		
		var fieldInfo;		//to store the fieldInfo element
		var fieldName;		//to store the fieldName	
		var fieldType;		//to store the fieldType (text or email)
		var field;		//to get the field object itself from the form
		var fieldValue;		//to store the field value
		var i;			//counter
		var confirmEmail;	//to store if the email is confirmed or not
		var errorMsg = '';	//to store the erro message


		//get the flag from the form to indicate if email is confirmed or not
		if (aForm.confirmEmail) {
			confirmEmail = aForm.confirmEmail.value;
		} else { 
			//if the form has no confirmEmail field then email is not confirmed
			confirmEmail = 0;
		}


		//for each field in the required field list, check that the field is indeed valid
		for (i=0; i < reqFieldList.length; i++) {
			//get the information for the current field and split the info into an array
			fieldInfo = reqFieldList[i].split('|');
			
			//get the field name and type from the field info array
			fieldName = fieldInfo[0];
			fieldType = fieldInfo[1];
			
			//use the field name to pull the field object from the form
			field = eval('aForm.' + fieldName);
			
			//if an email field is confirmed then it will be an array value but other values will not
			//so if the field is an array then get the first value; otherwise just get the value
			if (field.length > 1)
				fieldValue = field[0].value;
			else
				fieldValue = field.value;
				
			//if the field has no value then an error message is needed
			if (fieldValue == '') {
				//append message indicating the missing field using the field label
				errorMsg = errorMsg + NewLines(1)+'You must enter your '+fieldInfo[2];
			} else {
				//the field contains a value but is the value valid?
				//if the field is an email field then ensure it is a valid email
				if (fieldType == 'email') {
					//if the email is invalid then an error message is needed
					if (!ValidateEmailAddress(fieldValue)) {
						errorMsg = errorMsg + NewLines(1) + fieldInfo[2] + ' must be a valid email address.';
					}
					
					//if the email is to be confirmed then confirm it
					if (confirmEmail == 1) {
						//if we don't have 2 values in confirmEmail or the two values don't match then give an error
						if (!(field.length && field[0].value == field[1].value))  {
							errorMsg = errorMsg + NewLines(1) + fieldInfo[2] + ' does not match its confirmation field.';
						}
					}
				}
			}			

		} //end for i < reqFieldList size


		if (errorMsg == '') {
			//no errors but verify we have not submitted already
			if (submitcount == 0) {
				submitcount++;
				return true;
			} else {
				return false;
			}			
		} else {
			//an error has occurred; display error messages and return false so the transaction is not processed
			alert(errorMsg);
			return false;
		}
		
	}	//end ValidateForm