var boxheight=280;        // BACKGROUND BOX HEIGHT IN PIXELS.
var boxwidth=150;         // BACKGROUND BOX WIDTH IN PIXELS.
var speed=20;             // SPEED OF SCROLL IN MILLISECONDS (1 SECOND=1000 MILLISECONDS)..
var pixelstep=1;          // PIXELS "STEPS" PER REPITITION.
var godown=false;         // TOP TO BOTTOM=TRUE , BOTTOM TO TOP=FALSE
var intervalScroller;

var outer,inner,elementheight,ref,refX,refY;
var w3c=(document.getElementById)?true:false;
var ie5=(document.all && w3c)?true:false;
var ns6=(w3c && navigator.appName.indexOf("Netscape")>=0)?true:false;

function getElementHeight(el) {
    if (ie5)
        return (el.style.height)? el.style.height : el.clientHeight;
    else
        return (el.style.height)? parseInt(el.style.height):parseInt(el.offsetHeight);
}

function getPageLeft(el) {
    var x=0;

    while (el.offsetParent != null) {
        x+=el.offsetLeft;
        el=el.offsetParent;
    }
    x+=el.offsetLeft;
    return x;
}

function getPageTop(el) {
    var y=0;

    while (el.offsetParent != null) {
        y+=el.offsetTop;
        el=el.offsetParent;
    }
    y+=el.offsetTop;
    return y;
}

function scrollbox() {
    if (speed > 0) {
        inner.style.top=parseInt(inner.style.top)+((godown)? pixelstep: -pixelstep)+'px';
        if (parseInt(inner.style.top) < 2-elementheight)
            inner.style.top=boxheight+2+'px';
    }
}

function start() {
    outer=document.getElementById('outerNewsArea');
    inner=document.getElementById('innerNewsArea');
    ref=document.getElementById('referenceNewsArea');
    
    elementheight=getElementHeight(inner);
//    outer.style.left=getPageLeft(ref)+'px'; //MLD: position set to relative, hence this is fixed! (as of Mar, 03 2007)
//    outer.style.top=getPageTop(ref)+'px'; //MLD: position set to relative, hence this is fixed! (as of Mar, 03 2007)
    inner.style.top=boxheight+'px';
    inner.style.clip='rect(0px, '+(boxwidth-4)+'px, '+(elementheight)+'px, 0px)';
    outer.style.visibility="visible";
    inner.style.visibility="visible";
    
    intervalScroller = setInterval('scrollbox()',speed);
}

function stopScrolling() {
    clearInterval(intervalScroller);
}

function restartScrolling() {
    intervalScroller = setInterval('scrollbox()', speed);
}