function ltrim(stringToTrim) {
	return stringToTrim.replace(/^\s+/,"");
}

function rtrim(stringToTrim) {
	return stringToTrim.replace(/\s+$/,"");
}

function trim(stringToTrim) {
	return stringToTrim.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g,"");
}

function isEmail(addr) {
  if (/^\w+([\.-]?\w+)*@\w+([\.-]?\w+)*(\.\w{2,3})+$/.test(addr)) {
    return (true);
  }
  return (false)
}

function validateEmail(value) {
  if (!isEmail(value)) {
    return false;
  }
  return true;
}

function validateContactForm(f) {
  // validate name field
  if (f.contact_name.value.length == 0) {
    alert("Name is a required field.");
    f.contact_name.select();
    f.contact_name.focus();
    return false;
  }
  
  // validate email field
  if (!validateEmail(f.contact_email.value)) {
    alert("Incorrect email format. Please enter as xxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.");
    f.contact_email.select();
    f.contact_email.focus();
    return false;
  }
  
  // validate message
  if (f.contact_message.value.length == 0) {
    alert("Please enter your message.");
    f.contact_message.select();
    f.contact_message.focus();
    return false;
  }
  
  return true;
}