function verify_form(form){
// this function gets called on any form that has verifyForm(this) as its onSubmit() event
// it will cycle through all elements in the form and if it finds an element that is required
// (has id="required" or "required_select" or "email" as one of the element properties) AND is empty (meaning a string length=0)
// will send an error popup msgbox with the appropriate message as well as hightlighting the textbox and setting the focus
	var index;
	var len = form.elements.length-1;
	var errorRed = "#ff9900";
	for(index = 0; index<=len; index++){
		if((form.elements[index].id=="required"&&form.elements[index].value=="")||(form.elements[index].id=="required"&&form.elements[index].value==" ")||(form.elements[index].id=="required"&&form.elements[index].value=="  ")||(form.elements[index].id=="required"&&form.elements[index].value=="   ")||(form.elements[index].id=="required"&&form.elements[index].value=="    ")||(form.elements[index].id=="required"&&form.elements[index].value=="[ type message here ]")){
			alert(form.elements[index].title + " must be filled in!");
			form.elements[index].style.background=errorRed;
			form.elements[index].focus();
			return false;
		}
		
		if(form.elements[index].id=="required_check"&&form.elements[index].checked==false){
			alert(form.elements[index].name + " must be checked in order to complete form!");
			form.elements[index].style.background=errorRed;
			form.elements[index].focus();
			return false;
		}		
		
		
		
		if(form.elements[index].id=="email"){
			if (!(/^\w+([\.-]?\w+)*@\w+([\.-]?\w+)*(\.\w{2,3})+$/.test(form.elements[index].value))){
				alert("Invalid E-mail Address! Please re-enter.");
				form.elements[index].style.background=errorRed;
				form.elements[index].focus();
				return (false);
			}		
		}
		if(form.elements[index].id=="required_select"){
			if(form.elements[index].options[form.elements[index].selectedIndex].value==""){
				alert("You must select a value for " + form.elements[index].title);
				form.elements[index].style.background=errorRed;
				//form.elements[index].focus();
				return (false);
			}
		}
		if(form.elements[index].id=="numeric"){
			if((((1*form.elements[index].value)+"")=="NaN")||form.elements[index].value==""||form.elements[index].value==" "){
				alert("You must enter a  NUMERIC value for " + form.elements[index].title);
				form.elements[index].style.background=errorRed;
				form.elements[index].focus();
				return (false);
			}
		}
		if(form.elements[index].id=="numeric_lite"){
			if(((1*form.elements[index].value)+"")=="NaN"){
				alert("You must enter a  NUMERIC value for " + form.elements[index].title);
				form.elements[index].style.background=errorRed;
				form.elements[index].focus();
				return (false);
			}
		}
		
	}
	
	return(true);
}

// the reconstitueColor fucntion allows the textbox to be reset to white after characters have been added
function reconstituteColor(element){
	element.style.background="white";
}