function getHTTPObject() {
    var xmlhttp = false;

    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {              
      xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();              
    } else {                                  
      xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }

/*
    if (!xmlhttp && typeof XMLHttpRequest != 'undefined') {
        try {
            xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
        } catch (e) {
            xmlhttp = false;
        }
    }
*/
	return xmlhttp;
}

function makeOpenerRequest(url, elementID) {
    var xmlhttp = getHTTPObject();
    var targetElement = window.opener.document.getElementById(elementID);

    targetElement.innerHTML = '...';
    xmlhttp.open("GET", url, true);
    xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = handleData(targetElement);
    xmlhttp.send(null);
}

function handleData(target){
    //alert(xmlhttp.readyState);
    if(xmlhttp.readyState == 4){
        target.innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText + '\n';
    }
}

function makeRequest(url, elementID) {
    var xmlhttp = getHTTPObject();
    var targetElement = document.getElementById(elementID);
    xmlhttp.open("GET", url, true);
    xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.responseText) {
                targetElement.innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText + '\n';
        }
    }
    xmlhttp.send(null);
    xmlhttp.close;
}

function makePostRequest(url, elementID, text) {
    var xmlhttp = getHTTPObject();
    var targetElement = document.getElementById(elementID);
    targetElement.innerHTML = 'encountered an error. <a href="javascript: updateFootnotes();">Click Here</a> to fix it.';
    xmlhttp.open("POST", url, true);
    xmlhttp.setRequestHeader('Content-Type','application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
    xmlhttp.send('text=' + text );
    xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.responseText) {
                targetElement.innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText + '\n';
        }
    }
    xmlhttp.close;
}