/*
	This function receives an array generated with $.serializeArray and converts it 
	to a json string.
*/
function array_to_json(arr) {
	var json_string = '{';
	for (i=0; i<arr.length; i++) {
		json_string +='"'+arr[i].name+'":"'+arr[i].value+'"';
		if (i<arr.length-1) json_string += ',';	//This appends the comma at the end but the last element
	}
	json_string += '}';

	return json_string;
}

/*
	This function receives a string with utf8 codes and returns an html like one
*/
/*
function utf8_to_html(str) {
	return $("<span>"+str+"</span>").text();
}
*/

/* In the database, the new lines are stored as <br/> tags because is what html renders.
	When the text is shown in textareas, that <br/> must be changed for \n in order to render the line break
*/
/*
function br_to_n(text) {
	text = text.replace(/<br>/gi,"\n");
	return text.replace(/<br\/>/gi,"\n");
}
*/	

/*
	This function creates an href-empty link with an id and the text that receives.
	Params:
		- id: the id to assign to the a tag.
		- text: the text that represent the link.
*/
function make_link(id, text) {
	var the_link = '<a id="' + id + '" href="">';
	the_link += text + '</a>';
	return the_link;
}

/*
	This function changes the aspect of one link of the side bar when its selected
*/
function set_sidebarlink_css(elem) {
	$("a",elem).css("color","#663300");
}

/*
	These functions changes the aspect of one link of the optional menues when they are selected
*/
function set_catsmenulink_css(elem) {
	$("a","#cats_menu").css("color","#CC9900");
	elem.css("color","#663300");
}
function set_prodsmenulink_css(elem) {
	$("a","#prods_menu").css("color","#CC9900");
	elem.css("color","#663300");
}


/*
	This function checks if the content of a form field is empty (receives the content string)
*/
function is_empty(str) {
	if (str == "" || str == null)
		return true;
	
	return false;
}

/*
	This is an e-mail address validation function.
	It allows the usual user@domain syntax, but in addition allows user@[ip] format as well
	as "User with Spaces"@domain or [ip], all of which are legal syntax, according to W3C.
	It also checks that the user hasn't done anything silly like having multiple @'s or
	continuous .'s in the address (e.g. jim@b@c.com and jim@c..b.co.uk).
*/
function is_valid_email(emailStr) {
	/* The following pattern is used to check if the entered e-mail address
		fits the user@domain format.  It also is used to separate the username
		from the domain. */
	var emailPat=/^(.+)@(.+)$/
	/* The following string represents the pattern for matching all special
		characters.  We don't want to allow special characters in the address. 
		These characters include ( ) < > @ , ; : \ " . [ ]    */
	var specialChars="\\(\\)<>@,;:\\\\\\\"\\.\\[\\]"
	/* The following string represents the range of characters allowed in a 
		username or domainname.  It really states which chars aren't allowed. */
	var validChars="\[^\\s" + specialChars + "\]"
	/* The following pattern applies if the "user" is a quoted string (in
		which case, there are no rules about which characters are allowed
		and which aren't; anything goes).  E.g. "jiminy cricket"@disney.com
		is a legal e-mail address. */
	var quotedUser="(\"[^\"]*\")"
	/* The following pattern applies for domains that are IP addresses,
		rather than symbolic names.  E.g. joe@[123.124.233.4] is a legal
		e-mail address. NOTE: The square brackets are required. */
	var ipDomainPat=/^\[(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\]$/
	/* The following string represents an atom (basically a series of
		non-special characters.) */
	var atom=validChars + '+'
	/* The following string represents one word in the typical username.
		For example, in john.doe@somewhere.com, john and doe are words.
		Basically, a word is either an atom or quoted string. */
	var word="(" + atom + "|" + quotedUser + ")"
	// The following pattern describes the structure of the user
	var userPat=new RegExp("^" + word + "(\\." + word + ")*$")
	/* The following pattern describes the structure of a normal symbolic
		domain, as opposed to ipDomainPat, shown above. */
	var domainPat=new RegExp("^" + atom + "(\\." + atom +")*$")
	
	
	/* Finally, let's start trying to figure out if the supplied address is
		valid. */
	
	/* Begin with the coarse pattern to simply break up user@domain into
		different pieces that are easy to analyze. */
	var matchArray=emailStr.match(emailPat)
	if (matchArray==null) {
	  /* Too many/few @'s or something; basically, this address doesn't
		  even fit the general mould of a valid e-mail address. */
		//alert("Email address seems incorrect (check @ and .'s)")
		return false
	}
	var user=matchArray[1]
	var domain=matchArray[2]
	
	// See if "user" is valid 
	if (user.match(userPat)==null) {
		 // user is not valid
		 //alert("The username doesn't seem to be valid.")
		 return false
	}
	
	/* if the e-mail address is at an IP address (as opposed to a symbolic
		host name) make sure the IP address is valid. */
	var IPArray=domain.match(ipDomainPat)
	if (IPArray!=null) {
		 // this is an IP address
		  for (var i=1;i<=4;i++) {
			 if (IPArray[i]>255) {
				  //alert("Destination IP address is invalid!")
			return false
			 }
		 }
		 return true
	}
	
	// Domain is symbolic name
	var domainArray=domain.match(domainPat)
	if (domainArray==null) {
		//alert("The domain name doesn't seem to be valid.")
		 return false
	}
	
	/* domain name seems valid, but now make sure that it ends in a
		three-letter word (like com, edu, gov) or a two-letter word,
		representing country (uk, nl), and that there's a hostname preceding 
		the domain or country. */
	
	/* Now we need to break up the domain to get a count of how many atoms
		it consists of. */
	var atomPat=new RegExp(atom,"g")
	var domArr=domain.match(atomPat)
	var len=domArr.length
	if (domArr[domArr.length-1].length<2 || 
		 domArr[domArr.length-1].length>3) {
		// the address must end in a two letter or three letter word.
		//alert("The address must end in a three-letter domain, or two letter country.")
		return false
	}
	
	// Make sure there's a host name preceding the domain.
	if (len<2) {
		var errStr="This address is missing a hostname!"
		//alert(errStr)
		return false
	}
	
	// If we've gotten this far, everything's valid!
	return true;
}