function checkEmailSyntax(emailAddress){
			// checks for email syntax
			var email_syntax = /^.+\@(\[?)[a-zA-Z0-9\-\.]+\.([a-zA-Z]{2,3}|[0-9]{1,3})(\]?)$/
			var email_syntax_bad = /(@.*@)|(\.\.)|(@\.)|(\.@)|(^\.)/; // Non valid email
			if (!email_syntax.test(emailAddress) || (email_syntax_bad.test(emailAddress)))
			{
				alert("Please enter a valid Email address.");
				emailAddress.focus();
				return false;
			}
			// checks for invalid characters
			var invalid_char = " :,;`~!#$%^&*()+={}[]/\<>?'";
			var bad_char = "";
			for (i = 0; i < invalid_char.length; i++)
			{
				bad_char = invalid_char.charAt(i);
				if (emailAddress.indexOf(bad_char, 0) > -1)
				{
					alert("Please enter a valid Email address.");
					emailAddress.focus();
					return false;
				}
			}
			return true;
		}
	
	
	
		function isNumber(objFormTextField, strNameOfField){
			theObject = objFormTextField;
			
			if(isNaN(theObject.value))
			{
				alert("Please enter a numerical value only for the '" + strNameOfField + "' field.");
				theObject.focus();
				return false;
			}
			
			return true;
		}

	
		function isEmpty(s){   
			return ((s == null) || (s.length == 0) || /^\s+$/.test(s));
		}