function trim (str, chars)
{
	return ltrim(rtrim(str, chars), chars);
}

function ltrim (str, chars)
{
	chars = chars || "\\s";
	return str.replace(new RegExp("^[" + chars + "]+", "g"), "");
}

function rtrim (str, chars)
{
	chars = chars || "\\s";
	return str.replace(new RegExp("[" + chars + "]+$", "g"), "");
}

function fieldDef (id, def)
{
  fld = document.getElementById(id);

  if(fld.value == def)
  {
    fld.value = '';
  }
}

function fieldBlr(id, def)
{
  fld = document.getElementById(id);
  trimmed = trim(fld.value, ' ');

  if('' == trimmed)
  {
    fld.value = def;
  }
}

function charsLeft (id, spanId, num)
{
  var inp = document.getElementById(id);
  var span = document.getElementById(spanId);
  len = inp.value.length;
  left = num - len;
  txt = document.createTextNode(left);
  span.replaceChild(txt, span.firstChild);
}