// 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 () {

	// 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 evenClass = arguments[1] ? arguments[1] : "evenrow";
	var oddClass = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "oddrow";
	
	// obtain a reference to the desired table
	// if no such table exists, abort
	var tables = document.getElementsByTagName("table");
	if (! tables) { return; }
	
	for (var g = 0; g < tables.length; g++) {
	
		// by definition, tables can have more than one tbody
		// element, so we'll have to get the list of child
		// <tbody>s 
		var tbodies = tables[g].getElementsByTagName("tbody");
	
		// and iterate through them...
		for (var h = 0; h < tbodies.length; h++) {
			
			// find all the <tr> 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 (! hasClass(mytd) && ! mytd.style.backgroundColor) {
						
							mytd.className = even ? evenClass : oddClass;
						
						}
					}
				}
				// flip from odd to even, or vice-versa
				even =  ! even;
			}
		}
	}
}