function checkEmpty (strng,err) {
	var error ="";
	 if (strng == "") {
		error = "* " + err;
	 }
	 return error;
}

function checkState (strng) {
	var stateArray = new Array();		
			stateArray[0] = "AR";
            stateArray[1] = "AS";
            stateArray[2] = "AZ";
            stateArray[3] = "CA";
            stateArray[4] = "CO";
            stateArray[5] = "CT";
            stateArray[6] = "DC";
            stateArray[7] = "DE";
            stateArray[8] = "FL";
            stateArray[9] = "GA";
            stateArray[10] = "HI";
            stateArray[11] = "IA";
            stateArray[12] = "ID";
            stateArray[13] = "IL";
            stateArray[14] = "IN";
            stateArray[15] = "KS";
            stateArray[16] = "KY";
            stateArray[17] = "LA";
            stateArray[18] = "MA";
            stateArray[19] = "MD";
            stateArray[20] = "ME";
            stateArray[21] = "MH";
            stateArray[22] = "MI";
            stateArray[23] = "MN";
            stateArray[24] = "MO";
            stateArray[25] = "MP";
            stateArray[26] = "MS";
            stateArray[27] = "MT";
            stateArray[28] = "NC";
            stateArray[29] = "ND";
            stateArray[30] = "NE";
            stateArray[31] = "NH";
            stateArray[32] = "NJ";
            stateArray[33] = "NM";
            stateArray[34] = "NV";
            stateArray[35] = "NY";
            stateArray[36] = "OH";
            stateArray[37] = "OK";
            stateArray[38] = "OR";
            stateArray[39] = "PA";
            stateArray[40] = "PR";
            stateArray[41] = "PW";
            stateArray[42] = "RI";
            stateArray[43] = "SC";
            stateArray[44] = "SD";
            stateArray[45] = "TN";
            stateArray[46] = "TX";
            stateArray[47] = "UT";
            stateArray[48] = "VA";
            stateArray[49] = "VI";
            stateArray[50] = "VT";
            stateArray[51] = "WA";
            stateArray[52] = "WI";
            stateArray[53] = "WV";
            stateArray[54] = "WY";
            stateArray[55] = "AL";
            stateArray[56] = "AK";
	 var error = "";
	 if (strng == "") {
		error = "* State is a required field.\n";
	 } else {
	 	var stateFilter= /^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z]$/
		if (!(stateFilter.test(strng))) { 
			error = "* State must contain 2 alphabetical characters (e.g. NY for New York, TX for Texas)\n";
		}else{
			for( var i=0; i<stateArray.length; i++){
				if( strng.toUpperCase() == stateArray[i] ){
					strng = "valid";
				}
			}
			if ( strng != "valid" ){
				error = "* State is not valid\n";
			}
		}
		
	 }
	 return error;
}

function checkAlphanumericAllowDash(strng,err){
    var error = "";
	var validchars= /[^a-zA-Z_.\-0-9]/;
	if(validchars.test(strng)) {
		error = "* " + err;
	}
	return error;
}

function checkZip (strng) {
	 var error = "";
	 if (strng == "") {
		error = "* Zip is a required field.\n";
	 } else {
	 	// check for 5 digits w/ regular expression
	 	var zipFilter = /^\d{5}$/
	 	if (!(zipFilter.test(strng))) {
			error = "- A zip code should be in a 5 digit format.\n"
		}
	 }
	 return error;
}


function checkOfficeEmail (strng) {
	var error="";
	if (strng == "") {
	   error = "* Office E-mail is a required field.\n";
	} else {
		var emailFilter=/^.+@.+\..{2,3}$/;
		if (!(emailFilter.test(strng))) { 
		   error = "- Please enter a valid e-mail address.\n";
		} else {
		// test email for illegal characters using javascript 1.2 reg expression
		// we're forbidding the following: ( ) < > [ ] , ; : \ / "
		   var illegalChars= /[\(\)\<\>\,\;\:\\\"\[\]]/
			 if (strng.match(illegalChars)) {
			  error = "- The e-mail address contains illegal characters.\n";
		   }
		}
	}
	return error;    
}

// phone number - strip out delimiters and check for 10 digits
function checkOfficePhone (strng) {
	var error = "";
	if (strng == "") {
	   error = "* Office Phone is a required field.\n";
	} else {
		var stripped = strng.replace(/[\(\)\.\-\ ]/g, ''); //strip out acceptable non-numeric characters
		if (isNaN(parseInt(stripped))) {
		   error = "- The phone number contains illegal characters.";
		}
		if (!(stripped.length == 10)) {
		error = "- The phone number is the wrong length. Please, make sure you included an area code.\n";
		} 
	}
	return error;
}