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==true ) ? ";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;
	}
}		

// this function gets the cookie, if it exists
// don't use this, it's weak and does not handle some cases
// correctly, this is just to maintain legacy information
//function Get_Cookie( name ) 
//{
//    var start = document.cookie.indexOf( name + "=" );
//    var len = start + name.length + 1;
//    if ( ( !start ) &&
//    ( name != document.cookie.substring( 0, name.length ) ) )
//    {
//    return null;
//    }
//    if ( start == -1 ) return null;
//    var end = document.cookie.indexOf( ";", len );
//    if ( end == -1 ) end = document.cookie.length;
//    return unescape( document.cookie.substring( len, end ) );
//}


// this deletes the cookie when called
function Delete_Cookie( name, path, domain ) 
{
    if ( Get_Cookie( name ) ) document.cookie = name + "=" +
    ( ( path ) ? ";path=" + path : "") +
    ( ( domain ) ? ";domain=" + domain : "" ) + ";expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:01 GMT";
}