function stringToNumber(aString)
{
	var toNum = 0;
	if(aString.length == 0)
		return 0;
	RefString="0123456789";
	for (Count=0; Count < aString.length; Count++)
	{
		TempChar= aString.substring (Count, Count+1);
		if (RefString.indexOf (TempChar, 0) != -1)
		{
			toNum = toNum * 10;
			toNum = toNum + RefString.indexOf (TempChar, 0);
		}
	}
	//alert("stringToNumber: input " + aString + ", output " + toNum);
	
	// for negative numbers
	if(aString.indexOf("-") == 0)
		return (0 - toNum);
	return (toNum);


}

function replaceString(inputStr, replacedStr, replacerStr)
{
	var startPos = inputStr.indexOf(replacedStr);
	if(startPos == -1)
		return inputStr;
	var resultStr = inputStr.substring(0, startPos) + replacerStr + inputStr.substring(startPos + replacedStr.length);
	//      alert("replaceString resultStr = " + resultStr);
	return resultStr;
}