// 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] : "#fff";
   var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#edf3fe";
 
   // 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;
     }
   }
 }