// this function is need 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;
}
}
}