var api;

	function preloadImage(i){
		pic1= new Image(); 
		pic1.src=i;	
	}

	$.fn.serializeObject = function()
	{
	    var o = {};
	    var a = this.serializeArray();
	    $.each(a, function() {
	        if (o[this.name]) {
	            if (!o[this.name].push) {
	                o[this.name] = [o[this.name]];
	            }
	            o[this.name].push(this.value || '');
	        } else {
	            o[this.name] = this.value || '';
	        }
	    });
	    return o;
	};	

	function formToJson(v){
		return JSON.stringify($('#' + v).serializeObject())
	}

	function checkHeights(){
		var h=$("#pageContent").height();
		var m=$("#menuContent").height();
		if (m!=h) $("#menuContent").height(h);		
	} 
	
	function randomString(length) {
	    var chars = '0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXTZabcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz'.split('');
	    
	    if (! length) {
	        length = Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length);
	    }
	    
	    var str = '';
	    for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
	        str += chars[Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length)];
	    }
	    return str;
	}
	function setLoading(v, t){
		$('#'+v).html('<br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/loading.gif" /><br /><br /><font class="reg">' + t + '</font><br /><br /><br />');
	}
	function showDiv(v){
		
		if (api)
			if (api.isOpened)
				api.close();

		api=$('#'+v).overlay({
			mask: {color: '#000000'},	
			api: true		
		}).load();
	
	}