var formObj = null;
var formObjTyp = "";
var request=null;

function saveRecipe(data){
    link = 'http://www.pulsecanada.com/cgi-bin/recipes.pl/save_ingredients?'+data;
    if(link) {
        httpRequest("GET",link,true);
    }
}

//event handler for XMLHttpRequest
function handleResponse(){
    try{
        if(request.readyState == 4){
            if(request.status == 200){
                var resp =  request.responseText;
            } else {
                //request.status is 503  if the application isn't available; 500 if the application has a bug
                alert("A problem occurred with communicating between the XMLHttpRequest object and the server program.");
            }
        }//end outer if
    } catch (err)   {
        alert("It does not appear that the server is available for this application. Please"+
              " try again very soon. \nError: "+err.message);

    }
}

function createOptions(sel,_options) {
    //_options is an array of strings that represent the values of
    //a select list, as in each option of the list. sel is the select object
    if(_options == null || _options.length==0) { return;}
    var opt = null;
    for(var i = 0; i < _options.length; i++) {
        opt = document.createElement("option");
        opt.appendChild(document.createTextNode(_options[i]));
        sel.appendChild(opt);
    }
}
//remove any existing children from an Element object
function reset(elObject){
    if(elObject != null && elObject.hasChildNodes()){
        for(var i = 0; i < elObject.childNodes.length; i++){
            elObject.removeChild(elObject.firstChild);
        }
    }
}
/* Initialize a Request object that is already constructed */
function initReq(reqType,url,bool){
    try{
        /* Specify the function that will handle the HTTP response */
        request.onreadystatechange=handleResponse;
        request.open(reqType,url,bool);
        request.send(null);
    } catch (errv) {
        alert(
                "The application cannot contact the server at the moment. "+
                "Please try again in a few seconds." );
    }
}
/* Wrapper function for constructing a Request object.
 Parameters:
  reqType: The HTTP request type such as GET or POST.
  url: The URL of the server program.
  asynch: Whether to send the request asynchronously or not. */
function httpRequest(reqType,url,asynch){
    //Mozilla-based browsers
    if(window.XMLHttpRequest){
        request = new XMLHttpRequest();
    } else if (window.ActiveXObject){
        request=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
        if (! request){
            request=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
        }
     }
    //the request could still be null if neither ActiveXObject
    //initializations succeeded
    if(request){
       initReq(reqType,url,asynch);
    }  else {
        alert("Your browser does not permit the use of all "+
        "of this application's features!");}
}