var xmlHttp; 
var requestURL = 'http://www.africa-confidential.com/includes/ajax_pointer.aspx?pointerid=';
var is_ie = (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE') >= 0) ? 1 : 0; 
var is_ie5 = (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 5.5")!=-1) ? 1 : 0; 
var is_opera = ((navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera6")!=-1)||(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera/6")!=-1)) ? 1 : 0; 
//netscape, safari, mozilla behave the same??? 
var is_netscape = (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Netscape') >= 0) ? 1 : 0; 

function getPointer(pointerid){ 
	//document.getElementById('page_end_rptPointers__ctl0_liPointer_2383').className = "on"
	
	//disable all 
	var li = document.getElementsByTagName('li'), i=0, d;
	while(d=li[i++])
	{
		if(d.id.match(/page_end_rptPointers/))
		{
			d.className = '';
		}
	}
	
	//enable the selected link
	for(var i = 0; i < 100; i++)
	{
		try
		{
			document.getElementById('page_end_rptPointers__ctl' + i + '_liPointer_' + pointerid + '').className = "on"
			break;
		}
		catch(err)
		{
			//can't find that element
		}
	}
		
	if (pointerid.length > 0){ 
        //Append the name to search for to the requestURL 
        var url = requestURL + pointerid; 
	     
        //Create the xmlHttp object to use in the request 
        //stateChangeHandler will fire when the state has changed, i.e. data is received back 
        // This is non-blocking (asynchronous) 
        xmlHttp = GetXmlHttpObject(stateChangeHandler); 
            
        xmlHttp_Get(xmlHttp, url); 
    } 
    else { 
        //clear the current pointer
        document.getElementById('divAjaxPointer').innerHTML = ''; 
    } 
} 

//stateChangeHandler will fire when the state has changed, i.e. data is received back 
// This is non-blocking (asynchronous) 
function stateChangeHandler() 
{ 
    //readyState of 4 or 'complete' represents that data has been returned 
    if (xmlHttp.readyState == 4 || xmlHttp.readyState == 'complete'){ 
        //Gather the results from the callback 
        var str = xmlHttp.responseText; 

        //Populate the innerHTML of the div with the results 
        document.getElementById('divAjaxPointer').innerHTML = str; 
    } 
} 

// XMLHttp send GET request 
function xmlHttp_Get(xmlhttp, url) { 
    xmlhttp.open('GET', url, true); 
    xmlhttp.send(null); 
} 

function GetXmlHttpObject(handler) { 
    var objXmlHttp = null;    //Holds the local xmlHTTP object instance 

    //Depending on the browser, try to create the xmlHttp object 
    if (is_ie){ 
        //The object to create depends on version of IE 
        //If it isn't ie5, then default to the Msxml2.XMLHTTP object 
        var strObjName = (is_ie5) ? 'Microsoft.XMLHTTP' : 'Msxml2.XMLHTTP'; 
            
        //Attempt to create the object 
        try{ 
            objXmlHttp = new ActiveXObject(strObjName); 
            objXmlHttp.onreadystatechange = handler; 
        } 
        catch(e){ 
        //Object creation errored 
            alert('IE detected, but object could not be created. Verify that active scripting and activeX controls are enabled'); 
            return; 
        } 
    } 
    else if (is_opera){ 
        //Opera has some issues with xmlHttp object functionality 
        alert('Opera detected. The page may not behave as expected.'); 
        return; 
    } 
    else{ 
        // Mozilla | Netscape | Safari 
        objXmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); 
        objXmlHttp.onload = handler; 
        objXmlHttp.onerror = handler; 
    } 
        
    //Return the instantiated object 
    return objXmlHttp; 
}