function commonCheck(field)
{

  var proceed = true;

  if (!document.getElementById(field)) 
    proceed =  false;  // not available on this browser - leave validation to the server
  
  return proceed;
  
}

function validateEmpty(field, fieldname)
{

  var error = "";

  if (commonCheck(field))
  {
    if (document.getElementById(field).value.length == 0) {
	    document.getElementById(field).style.backgroundColor = "#f8d7d5";
		document.getElementById(field).focus();
	    error = fieldname;
        error += "\nThe required field has not been filled in.\n";
	} else  {
	    document.getElementById(field).style.backgroundColor = "#fff";
	}
  }
  
  return error;
  
}