function ShowElement(element_id, display_inline) {
  //set display style to 'block' for IE and '' for other browers (eg. setting it to 'block' in Firefox stuffs it up bigtime).
  if (document.getElementById(element_id) && document.getElementById(element_id).style) {
    if(display_inline)
      document.getElementById(element_id).style.display = (document.all) ? 'inline' : '';
    else
      document.getElementById(element_id).style.display = (document.all) ? 'block' : '';
  }
}
    
//========================== function separator ===================================

function HideElement(element_id) {
  if (document.getElementById(element_id) && document.getElementById(element_id).style) {
    document.getElementById(element_id).style.display = 'none';
  }
}
 
//========================== function separator ===================================

function ToggleElementVisibility(element_id, display_inline) {

  if (document.getElementById(element_id) && document.getElementById(element_id).style) {

    if(document.getElementById(element_id).style.display == 'none')
      ShowElement(element_id, display_inline);
    else //is_visible = 'block' for IE, or '' for other browsers
      HideElement(element_id);

  }

}

//========================== function separator ===================================

//Similar to ShowElement() function but uses visibility property, not display property (which behaves a bit differently).
function MakeElementVisible(show_id) {
  if (document.getElementById(show_id) && document.getElementById(show_id).style) {
     document.getElementById(show_id).style.visibility = 'visible';
  }
}

//========================== function separator ===================================

//Similar to HideElement() function but uses visibility property, not display property (which behaves a bit differently).
function MakeElementInvisible(hide_id) {
  if (document.getElementById(hide_id) && document.getElementById(hide_id).style) {
    document.getElementById(hide_id).style.visibility = 'hidden';
  }
}

//========================== function separator ===================================

function SetElementPosition(some_element_id, relative_x_pos, relative_y_pos) {

  var some_element = document.getElementById(some_element_id);
  some_element.style.visibility = 'visible';
  if (document.all) { 
    some_element.style.left = (event.clientX + document.documentElement.scrollLeft - relative_x_pos) + 'px';
    some_element.style.top = (event.clientY + document.documentElement.scrollTop - relative_y_pos) + 'px';
  }

}