function set_cookie ( name, value, expires_year, expires_month, expires_day, path, domain, secure )
{
  var cookie_string = name + "=" + escape ( value );

  if ( expires_year )
  {
    var expires = new Date ( expires_year, expires_month, expires_day );
    cookie_string += "; expires=" + expires.toGMTString();
  }

  if ( path )
	cookie_string += "; path=" + escape ( path );

  if ( domain )
	cookie_string += "; domain=" + escape ( domain );

  if ( secure )
	cookie_string += "; secure";

  document.cookie = cookie_string;

}

function delete_cookie ( cookie_name )
{
  var cookie_date = new Date ( );  // current date & time
  cookie_date.setTime ( cookie_date.getTime() - 1 );
  document.cookie = cookie_name += "=; expires=" + cookie_date.toGMTString();
}

function get_cookie ( cookie_name )
{
  var results = document.cookie.match ( '(^|;) ?' + cookie_name + '=([^;]*)(;|$)' );

  if ( results )
    return ( unescape ( results[2] ) );
  else
    return null;
}