var browserType = "";
getBrowserType();

function getBrowserType()
{
	browserType = "unknown";

	if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera") > -1)
	{
		browserType = "opera";
	}
	else if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Gecko") > -1)
	{
		browserType = "gecko";
	}
	else if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Safari") > -1)
	{
		browserType = "webkit";
	}
	else if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE") > -1)
	{
		browserType = "ie";
	}
}

function getElement(elementId)
{
	if(browserType == "ie")
		return document.all[elementId];
	return document.getElementById(elementId);
}

function getClassValue(element)
{
	if(element.className)
		return element.className; //IE is a terrible web browser
	if(element.getAttribute("class"))
		return element.getAttribute("class");
	return "";
}

function getByClass(name)
{
	var r = Array();
	var es = document.getElementsByTagName('*');
	for(i=0; i<es.length; i++)
		if(es[i].className.indexOf(name) > -1)
			r.push(es[i]);
	return r;
}

function $(e)
{ return getElement(e); }

function getId(e)
{ return getElement(e); }

function setText(element, newText)
{
	if(browserType == "gecko")
		element.textContent = newText;
	else
		element.innerText = newText;
}

function setOpacity(element, opacity)
{
	if(browserType == "ie")
	{
			element.runtimeStyle.filter = "alpha(opacity=" + opacity + ")";	 //IE sucks
		return;
	}

	element.style.opacity = opacity / 100;
	return;
}