// this function is need 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] : "#fff";
  
    // 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 (!mytd.style.backgroundColor) {        
								mytd.style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor : oddColor;              
							}
						}
					}
		        // flip from odd to even, or vice-versa
		        even =  ! even;
      		}
    	}
  }