function isEmpty(s)
		{

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

	function fieldValidation(input,flag) {	    
		s = input.value;
		if(isEmpty(s)) {
			if(input.type != 'hidden') {
				input.focus();
				input.select();
			}
			alert(input.name+" field is blank");
			return false;
		}
		returnString = filterString(s,flag);
		input.value = returnString;
		if(returnString=="" ||returnString.length==0) {
			input.focus();
			input.select();
			alert(input.name+" field is blank.");
			return false;
		}
		return true;
	}
	
	function filterString(s,flag) {
		
		filteredValues = "1234567890'?\&\[\]\{\}\*\~\=\$\%\_\+\#\@\!\^\(\).<>\",;:`|";     // Characters stripped out
		if(flag=='num') {
		    filteredValues = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'?  \& \[\]\{\}\*\~\=\$\%\_\+\#\@\!\^\(\)<>\",;:` |";     // Characters stripped out
		} else if(flag=='both') {
		    filteredValues = "'?\&\[\]\{\}\*\~\=\$\%\_\+\#\@\!\^\(\).<>\",;:`|";     // Characters stripped out
		}
		var i;
		var returnString = "";
		for (i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {  // Search through string and append to unfiltered values to returnString.
			var c = s.charAt(i);
			if (filteredValues.indexOf(c) == -1 )
				returnString += c;
		}

		return returnString;
	}
	function optionalFieldsValidation(input,flag) {
		s = input.value;
		if(s==null || s.length==0) {
			return true;
		}
		returnString = filterString(s,flag);
		input.value = returnString;
		return true;						
	}
	
	function removeSpaces(s) {
		var returnString ="";
		for (i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {  // Search through string and append to unfiltered values to returnString.
			var c = s.charAt(i);
			if (c != ' ' )
				returnString += c;
		}
		
		return returnString;
	
	}