// this function is needed to work around 

  // a bug in IE related to element attributes

  function hasClass(obj) {

     var result = false;

     if (obj.getAttributeNode("class") != null) {

         result = obj.getAttributeNode("class").value;

     }

     return result;

  }   



 function stripe(id) {



    // the flag we'll use to keep track of 

    // whether the current row is odd or even

    var even = false;

  

    // if arguments are provided to specify the colours

    // of the even & odd rows, then use the them;

    // otherwise use the following defaults:

    var evenColor = arguments[1] ? arguments[1] : "#fff";

    var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#eee";

  

    // obtain a reference to the desired table

    // if no such table exists, abort

    var table = document.getElementById(id);

    if (! table) { return; }

    

    // by definition, tables can have more than one tbody

    // element, so we'll have to get the list of child

    // <tbody>s 

    var tbodies = table.getElementsByTagName("tbody");



    // and iterate through them...

    for (var h = 0; h < tbodies.length; h++) {

    

     // find all the &lt;tr&gt; elements... 

      var trs = tbodies[h].getElementsByTagName("tr");

      

      // ... and iterate through them

      for (var i = 0; i < trs.length; i++) {



        // avoid rows that have a class attribute

        // or backgroundColor style

        if (! hasClass(trs[i]) &&

            ! trs[i].style.backgroundColor) {

 		  

          // get all the cells in this row...

          var tds = trs[i].getElementsByTagName("td");

        

          // and iterate through them...

          for (var j = 0; j < tds.length; j++) {

        

            var mytd = tds[j];



            // avoid cells that have a class attribute

            // or backgroundColor style

            if (! hasClass(mytd) &&

                ! mytd.style.backgroundColor) {

        

              mytd.style.backgroundColor =

                even ? evenColor : oddColor;

            

            }

          }

        }

        // flip from odd to even, or vice-versa

        even =  ! even;

      }

    }

  }