// called for checkin if the required form field is left empty or not
function emptyField(js_element_value)
{ 
    if(js_element_value.replace(/ /g,'') == '')
    {
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}



// function to trim the string
function trim_it(element)
{

	if(element.charAt(0) == ' ')
	{
		for(i= 1 ; i<element.length ; i++)
		{	
			if(element.charAt(i) != ' ')
			{
				element = element.substring(i,element.length+1);
				break;
			}
		}
	}

	if(element.charAt(element.length - 1) == ' ')
	{
		for(i=element.length - 2 ; i>=0 ; i--)
		{
			if(element.charAt(i) != ' ')
			{	
				element = element.substring(0,i+1);
				break;
			}
		}
	}
	return element;
}