function getCookie( 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;
	}
}

function setCookie( cookieName, cookieValue, lifeTime, path, domain, isSecure ) {
	if( !cookieName ) { return false; }
	if( lifeTime == "delete" ) { lifeTime = -10; } //this is in the past. Expires immediately.
	/* This next line sets the cookie but does not overwrite other cookies.
	syntax: cookieName=cookieValue[;expires=dataAsString[;path=pathAsString[;domain=domainAsString[;secure]]]]
	Because of the way that document.cookie behaves, writing this here is equivalent to writing
	document.cookie = whatIAmWritingNow + "; " + document.cookie; */
	document.cookie = escape( cookieName ) + "=" + escape( cookieValue ) +
		( lifeTime ? ";expires=" + ( new Date( ( new Date() ).getTime() + ( 1000 * lifeTime ) ) ).toGMTString() : "" ) +
		( path ? ";path=" + path : "") + ( domain ? ";domain=" + domain : "") + 
		( isSecure ? ";secure" : "");
	//check if the cookie has been set/deleted as required
	if( lifeTime < 0 ) { if( typeof( getCookie( cookieName ) ) == "string" ) { return false; } return true; }
	if( typeof( getCookie( cookieName ) ) == "string" ) { return true; } return false;
}