//from http://techpatterns.com/downloads/javascript_cookies.php
// Set Cookie Javascript Function

//You need to put the name and values in quotes when you call the function, like this:
//Set_Cookie( 'mycookie', 'visited 9 times', 30, '/', '', '' );. 
//Don't forget to put in empty quotes for the unused parameters or you'll get an error when you run the code. 
//This makes the cookie named 'mycookie', with the value of 'visited 9 times', and with a life of 30 days, and the cookie is set to your root folder.

//The Set_Cookie values for 'domain' and 'secure' are not utilized. 
//Use 'domain' on the Javascript cookie if you are using it on a subdomain, like widgets.yoursite.com, where the cookie is set on the widgets subdomain, 
//but you need it to be accessible over the whole yoursite.com domain.

//It's good practice to not assume the path to the site root will be set the way you want it by default, 
//so do this manually as a rule, '/'. 
//If no value is set for expires, it will only last as long as the current session of the visitor, and will be automatically deleted when they close their browser. 

// This will set the cookie. It's the most complicated part, but actually for most purposes all you need to set are the first 4 parameters, name, value, expires, and path. 
//If you want the cookie available only in one folder, you will need to add '/folder_name/' as a path variable, 
//that tells the script to set the cookie for the just that path, not for the whole domain.

//As a good general rule, set the path to '/', the root of your website. 
//Generally 'domain' and 'secure' are not something you will be needing to use unless you set the cookie on a subdomain, 
//in which case you may want to set the domain to your primary domain if you want it to be accessible from the main domain, or other subdomains. 
function Set_Cookie( name, value, expires, path, domain, secure )
{
		// set time, it's in milliseconds
	var today = new Date();
	today.setTime( today.getTime() );
	
	/*
	 * if the expires variable is set, make the correct expires time, the current
	 * script below will set it for x number of days, to make it for hours, delete *
	 * 24, for minutes, delete * 60 * 24
	 */
	if ( expires )
	{
		expires = expires * 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24;
	}
	var expires_date = new Date( today.getTime() + (expires) );
	
	document.cookie = name + "=" +escape( value ) +
	( ( expires ) ? ";expires=" + expires_date.toGMTString() : "" ) +
	( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "" ) +
	( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) +
	( ( secure ) ? ";secure" : "" );
}


// this fixes an issue with the old method, ambiguous values
// with this test document.cookie.indexOf( name + "=" );
function Get_Cookie( check_name ) 
{
	// first we'll split this cookie up into name/value pairs
	// note: document.cookie only returns name=value, not the other components
	var a_all_cookies = document.cookie.split( ';' );
	var a_temp_cookie = '';
	var cookie_name = '';
	var cookie_value = '';
	var b_cookie_found = false; // set boolean t/f default f

	for ( i = 0; i < a_all_cookies.length; i++ )
	{
		// now we'll split apart each name=value pair
		a_temp_cookie = a_all_cookies[i].split( '=' );


		// and trim left/right whitespace while we're at it
		cookie_name = a_temp_cookie[0].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '');

		// if the extracted name matches passed check_name
		if ( cookie_name == check_name )
		{
			b_cookie_found = true;
			// we need to handle case where cookie has no value but exists (no =
			// sign, that is):
			if ( a_temp_cookie.length > 1 )
			{
				cookie_value = unescape( a_temp_cookie[1].replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '') );
			}
			// note that in cases where cookie is initialized but no value, null
			// is returned
			return cookie_value;
			break;
		}
		a_temp_cookie = null;
		cookie_name = '';
	}
	if ( !b_cookie_found )
	{
		return null;
	}
}