function getElementsByClass(node,searchClass,tag) {
  var classElements = new Array();
  var els = node.getElementsByTagName(tag);
  var elsLen = els.length;
  var pattern = new RegExp("(^|\\s)" + searchClass + "(\\s|$)");
  for (i = 0, j = 0; i < elsLen; i++) {
    if ( pattern.test(els[i].className) ) {
      classElements[j] = els[i];
      j++;
    }
  }
return classElements;
}
function createRO() {
	try {
		request_o = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
	}
	catch(ex) { //either this is not IE, or it is a version of IE which does not support XMLHTTP
		var notIECompatibleXMLHTTP=true;
	}
	if(notIECompatibleXMLHTTP==true) {
		try {
			request_o = new XMLHttpRequest();
		}
		catch(ex) { //we can't use AJAX because this browser is not compatible.
			request_o = false;
		}
	}
	return request_o;
}
function updateDocs() {
         if (RO.readyState == 4) {
                var data = RO.responseXML;
                var thedata = data.getElementsByTagName('data');
		var elements = getElementsByClass(document.getElementById('nowrap'),'alphabet_active','a');
                for (e in elements) {
                        elements[e].className = 'alphabet';
		}
                document.getElementById(thedata[0].getElementsByTagName('letter')[0].firstChild.data).className = 'alphabet_active';
                document.getElementById('doctors').innerHTML = thedata[0].getElementsByTagName('docs')[0].firstChild.data;
         }
}
function docReq(l) {
         RO.open('post','getDocs.php');
         RO.onreadystatechange = updateDocs;
         RO.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
         RO.send('l='+l);
}