function getURL(url) {
  ///alert('makePOSTRequest:' + http_request_id);
  var request = false;
  if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari,...
	 request = new XMLHttpRequest();
	 if (request.overrideMimeType) {
		request.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
	 }
  } else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE
	 try {
		request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
	 } catch (e) {
		try {
		   request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
		} catch (e) {}
	 }
  }
  if (!request) {
	 alert('Cannot create XMLHTTP instance');
	 return false;
  }
  request.open('GET', url, true);
  request.send(null);
  return true;
} // getURL

function displaySwitch(id) {
  var element = document.getElementById(id);
  if (element) {
    if ("none" == element.style.display) {
	  element.style.display = '';
	} else {
	  element.style.display = 'none';
	}
  }
} // displaySwitch