// Stephen Riley - 06/09/06
// limit the length of a comment box and update an element with id="counter" with remaining characters
//var maxlimit = 10; // field limit
var myCounter = document.getElementById("counter");
replaceText(myCounter, maxlimit + " characters left");

function textCounter(field, countfield) {	
	if (field.value.length > maxlimit) // if too long...trim it!
		field.value = field.value.substring(0, maxlimit);
	else
		replaceText(myCounter, maxlimit - field.value.length + " characters left");
}
function replaceText(el, text) {
  if (el != null) {
    clearText(el);
    var newNode = document.createTextNode(text);
    el.appendChild(newNode);
  }
}
function clearText(el) {
  if (el != null) {
    if (el.childNodes) {
      for (var i = 0; i < el.childNodes.length; i++) {
        var childNode = el.childNodes[i];
        el.removeChild(childNode);
      }
    }
  }
}