function confirmEmailField(emailField){
	//need to do more thorough checking here
	if(emailField){
		var emailFilter=/^[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+@([a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.)+[a-zA-Z0-9.-]{2,4}(\.[a-zA-Z0-9.-]{,4})?$/;
		var theValue = emailField.value;
		if (!(emailFilter.test(theValue))) {
		       return("Please enter a valid E-mail address.\n");
		}
		return('');
	}
	return("form field for confirmEmailField was null");
}

function confirmFieldNotEmpty(theFormField,formFieldName){
	if(theFormField){
		if(theFormField.value.length == 0){
			return("Please enter "+formFieldName);
		}
		return('');
	}
	return("form field for confirmFieldNotEmpty was null. fieldName: "+formFieldName);
}


function confirmValidNumber(theFormField,formFieldName){
	if(theFormField){
		var errorMessage = confirmFieldNotEmpty(theFormField,formFieldName)
		if(errorMessage.length > 0){
			return(errorMessage);
		}
		if(isNaN(theFormField.value)){
			return("Please enter a valid number for "+formFieldName);
		}
		return('');
	}
	return("form field for confirmValidNumber was null. fieldName: "+formFieldName);
}

function confirmValidPhoneNumber(theFormField,formFieldName){
	if(theFormField){
		var errorMessage = confirmFieldNotEmpty(theFormField,formFieldName)
		if(errorMessage.length > 0){
			return(errorMessage);
		}
		var stripped = theFormField.value.replace(/[\(\)\.\-\ ]/g, '');
		if (isNaN(parseInt(stripped))) {
			return(formFieldName+" contains illegal characters.");
		}
		if (!(stripped.length == 10)) {
			return(formFieldName+" must be a 10 digit number.");	
		}
		theFormField.value = stripped;
		return('');
	}
	return("form field for confirmValidPhoneNumber was null. fieldName: "+formFieldName);
}