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);
      }
    }
  }
}

function getText(el) {
  var text = "";
  if (el != null) {
    if (el.childNodes) {
      for (var i = 0; i < el.childNodes.length; i++) {
        var childNode = el.childNodes[i];
        if (childNode.nodeValue != null) {
          text = text + childNode.nodeValue;
        }
      }
    }
  }
  return text;
}

function createNamedElement(type, name, eventType, event) {
   var element = null;
   // Try the IE way; this fails on standards-compliant browsers
   try {
      element = document.createElement('<'+type+' id="'+name+'" name="'+name+'">');
   } catch (e) {
   }
   if (!element || element.nodeName != type.toUpperCase()) {
      // Non-IE browser; use canonical method to create named element
      element = document.createElement(type);
      element.name = name;
      element.id = name;
   }
   return element;
}