function is_all_ws( nod )
{
  // Use ECMA-262 Edition 3 String and RegExp features
  return !(/[^\t\n\r ]/.test(nod.data));
}

function is_ignorable( nod )
{
  return ( nod.nodeType == 8) || // A comment node
         ( (nod.nodeType == 3) && is_all_ws(nod) ); // a text node, all ws
}

function node_before( sib )
{
  while ((sib = sib.previousSibling)) {
    if (!is_ignorable(sib)) return sib;
  }
  return null;
}

function node_after( sib )
{
  while ((sib = sib.nextSibling)) {
    if (!is_ignorable(sib)) return sib;
  }
  return null;
}

function last_child( par )
{
  var res=par.lastChild;
  while (res) {
    if (!is_ignorable(res)) return res;
    res = res.previousSibling;
  }
  return null;
}

function first_child( par )
{
  var res=par.firstChild;
  while (res) {
    if (!is_ignorable(res)) return res;
    res = res.nextSibling;
  }
  return null;
}

function data_of( txt )
{
  var data = txt.data;
  // Use ECMA-262 Edition 3 String and RegExp features
  data = data.replace(/[\t\n\r ]+/g, " ");
  if (data.charAt(0) == " ")
    data = data.substring(1, data.length);
  if (data.charAt(data.length - 1) == " ")
    data = data.substring(0, data.length - 1);
  return data;
}