var req;

function xml_request(url) {
	req = false;
    // branch for native XMLHttpRequest object
    if(window.XMLHttpRequest) {
    	try {
			req = new XMLHttpRequest();
        } catch(e) {
			req = false;
        }
    // branch for IE/Windows ActiveX version
    } else if(window.ActiveXObject) {
       	try {
        	req = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
      	} catch(e) {
        	try {
          		req = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
        	} catch(e) {
          		req = false;
        	}
		}
    }
	if(req) {
		req.onreadystatechange = ProcessStateChange;
		req.open("GET", url + '?ajax_ie_fix=' + (Math.random() * Date.parse(new Date())), true);
		req.send("");
	}
}

var _ms_XMLHttpRequest_ActiveX = ""; // Holds type of ActiveX to instantiate

function AJAXRequest( method, url, data, process, async, dosend) {
	var self = this;

	if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
	// Not IE
        self.AJAX = new XMLHttpRequest();
    } else if (window.ActiveXObject) {
	// Hello IE!
        // Instantiate the latest MS ActiveX Objects
        if (_ms_XMLHttpRequest_ActiveX) {
            self.AJAX = new ActiveXObject(_ms_XMLHttpRequest_ActiveX);
        } else {
	    // loops through the various versions of XMLHTTP to ensure we're using the latest
	    var versions = ["Msxml2.XMLHTTP.7.0", "Msxml2.XMLHTTP.6.0", "Msxml2.XMLHTTP.5.0", "Msxml2.XMLHTTP.4.0", "MSXML2.XMLHTTP.3.0", "MSXML2.XMLHTTP",
                        "Microsoft.XMLHTTP"];

            for (var i = 0; i < versions.length ; i++) {
                try {
		    // try to create the object
		    // if it doesn't work, we'll try again
		    // if it does work, we'll save a reference to the proper one to speed up future instantiations
                    self.AJAX = new ActiveXObject(versions[i]);

                    if (self.AJAX) {
                        _ms_XMLHttpRequest_ActiveX = versions[i];
                        break;
                    }
                }
                catch (objException) {
                // trap; try next one
                } ;
            }

            ;
        }
    }

	// if no callback process is specified, then assing a default which executes the code returned by the server
    if (typeof process == 'undefined' || process == null) {
        process = executeReturn;
    }

    self.process = process;

    // create an anonymous function to log state changes
    self.AJAX.onreadystatechange = function( ) {
        self.process(self.AJAX);
    }

    // if no method specified, then default to POST
    if (!method) {
        method = "POST";
    }

    method = method.toUpperCase();

    if (typeof async == 'undefined' || async == null) {
        async = true;
    }
    self.AJAX.open(method, url + '?ajax_ie_fix=' + (Math.random() * Date.parse(new Date())), async);

    if (method == "POST") {
        self.AJAX.setRequestHeader("Connection", "close");
        self.AJAX.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
        self.AJAX.setRequestHeader("Method", "POST " + url + "HTTP/1.1");
    }

    // if dosend is true or undefined, send the request
    // only fails is dosend is false
    // you'd do this to set special request headers
    if ( dosend || typeof dosend == 'undefined' ) {
	    if ( !data ) data=""; 
	    self.AJAX.send(data);
    }
    return self.AJAX;
}