// this function is need to work around 
// a bug in IE related to element attributes
function hasClass(obj) {
    var result = false;
    if (obj.getAttributeNode("class") != null) {
        result = obj.getAttributeNode("class").value;
    }
    return result;
}

function stripe(id) {

    // the flag we'll use to keep track of 
    // whether the current row is odd or even
    var even = false;

    // if arguments are provided to specify the colours
    // of the even & odd rows, then use the them;
    // otherwise use the following defaults:
    var evenColor = arguments[1] ? arguments[1] : "#fff";
    var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#eee";

    // obtain a reference to the desired table
    // if no such table exists, abort
    var table = document.getElementById(id);
    if (!table) { return; }

    // by definition, tables can have more than one tbody
    // element, so we'll have to get the list of child
    // <tbody>s 
    var tbodies = table.getElementsByTagName("tbody");

    // and iterate through them...
    for (var h = 0; h < tbodies.length; h++) {

        // find all the &lt;tr&gt; elements... 
        var trs = tbodies[h].getElementsByTagName("tr");

        // ... and iterate through them
        for (var i = 0; i < trs.length; i++) {

            // avoid rows that have a class attribute
            // or backgroundColor style
            if (!hasClass(trs[i]) && !trs[i].style.backgroundColor) {

                // get all the cells in this row...
                var tds = trs[i].getElementsByTagName("td");

                // and iterate through them...
                for (var j = 0; j < tds.length; j++) {

                    var mytd = tds[j];

                    // avoid cells that have a class attribute
                    // or backgroundColor style
                    if (!hasClass(mytd) && !mytd.style.backgroundColor) {

                        mytd.style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor : oddColor;

                    }
                }
            }
            // flip from odd to even, or vice-versa
            even = !even;
        }
    }
}