// 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] : "#f2f2f2";
        var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#e3e3e3";

        // obtain a reference to the desired table
        // if no such table exists, abort
        var element = document.getElementById(id);
        if (! element) { return; }

        // by definition, tables can have more than one tbody
        // element, so we'll have to get the list of child
        // <tbody>s 
        var uls = element.getElementsByTagName("ul");

        // and iterate through them...
        for (var h = 0; h < uls.length; h++) {

          // find all the &lt;tr&gt; elements... 
          var lis = uls[h].getElementsByTagName("li");

          // ... and iterate through them
          for (var i = 0; i < lis.length; i++) {

            // avoid rows that have a class attribute
            // or backgroundColor style
            if (! hasClass(lis[i]) &&! lis[i].style.backgroundColor) {
              lis[i].style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor : oddColor;
              /*
              // 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;
          }
        }
      }