function VEtrim(inputString) {
   // Removes leading and trailing spaces from the passed string. Also removes
   // consecutive spaces and replaces it with one space. If something besides
   // a string is passed in (null, custom object, etc.) then return the input.
   if (typeof inputString != "string") { return inputString; }
   var retValue = inputString;
   var ch = retValue.substring(0, 1);
   while (ch == " ") { // Check for spaces at the beginning of the string
      retValue = retValue.substring(1, retValue.length);
      ch = retValue.substring(0, 1);
   }
   ch = retValue.substring(retValue.length-1, retValue.length);
   while (ch == " ") { // Check for spaces at the end of the string
      retValue = retValue.substring(0, retValue.length-1);
      ch = retValue.substring(retValue.length-1, retValue.length);
   }
   while (retValue.indexOf("  ") != -1) { // Note that there are two spaces in the string - look for multiple spaces within the string
      retValue = retValue.substring(0, retValue.indexOf("  ")) + retValue.substring(retValue.indexOf("  ")+1, retValue.length); // Again, there are two spaces in each of the strings
   }
   return retValue; // Return the trimmed string back to the user
} // Ends the "trim" function

function ValidEmail (emailStr) {
	emailStr = VEtrim(emailStr);
	/*  The following pattern is used to check if the entered e-mail address
			fits the user@domain format.  It also is used to separate the username
			from the domain. */

	var emailPat=/^(.+)@(.+)$/

	/*  The following string represents the pattern for matching all special
			characters.  We don't want to allow special characters in the address. 
			These characters include ( ) < > @ , ; : \ " . [ ]    */
	
	var specialChars="\\(\\)<>@,;:\\\\\\\"\\.\\[\\]"
	
	
	
	/*	The following string represents the range of characters allowed in a 
			username or domainname.  It really states which chars aren't allowed. */
	var validChars="\[^\\s" + specialChars + "\]"
	
	
	
	/*	The following pattern applies if the "user" is a quoted string (in
			which case, there are no rules about which characters are allowed
			and which aren't; anything goes).  E.g. "jiminy cricket"@disney.com
			is a legal e-mail address. */
	var quotedUser="(\"[^\"]*\")"
	
	
	
	/*	The following pattern applies for domains that are IP addresses,
			rather than symbolic names.  E.g. joe@[123.124.233.4] is a legal
			e-mail address. NOTE: The square brackets are required. */
	var ipDomainPat=/^\[(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\]$/
	
	
	
	/*	The following string represents an atom (basically a series of
			non-special characters.) */
	var atom=validChars + '+'
	
	
	/*	The following string represents one word in the typical username.
			For example, in john.doe@somewhere.com, john and doe are words.
			Basically, a word is either an atom or quoted string. */
	var word="(" + atom + "|" + quotedUser + ")"
	
	
	// The following pattern describes the structure of the user
	var userPat=new RegExp("^" + word + "(\\." + word + ")*$")
	
	
	/*	The following pattern describes the structure of a normal symbolic
			domain, as opposed to ipDomainPat, shown above. */
	var domainPat=new RegExp("^" + atom + "(\\." + atom +")*$")


	/*	Finally, let's start trying to figure out if the supplied address is
			valid. */


	/*	Begin with the coarse pattern to simply break up user@domain into
			different pieces that are easy to analyze. */
	var matchArray=emailStr.match(emailPat)
	
	
	if (matchArray==null) {
  
		/*	Too many/few @'s or something; basically, this address doesn't
				even fit the general mould of a valid e-mail address. */
		//alert("Email address seems incorrect (check @ and .'s)");
		return false
	}
	
	var user=matchArray[1]
	var domain=matchArray[2]


	// See if "user" is valid 
	if (user.match(userPat)==null) {
		// user is not valid
    //alert("The username doesn't seem to be valid.")
    return false
	}

	/*	if the e-mail address is at an IP address (as opposed to a symbolic
			host name) make sure the IP address is valid. */
	var IPArray=domain.match(ipDomainPat)
	if (IPArray!=null) {
		// this is an IP address
	  for (var i=1;i<=4;i++) {
	    if (IPArray[i]>255) {
	        //alert("Destination IP address is invalid!")
					return false
	    }
    }
    return true
	}


	// Domain is symbolic name
	var domainArray=domain.match(domainPat)
	if (domainArray==null) {
		//alert("The domain name doesn't seem to be valid.")
    return false
	}

	/*	domain name seems valid, but now make sure that it ends in a
			three-letter word (like com, edu, gov) or a two-letter word,
			representing country (uk, nl), and that there's a hostname preceding 
			the domain or country. */

	/*	Now we need to break up the domain to get a count of how many atoms
			it consists of. */

	var atomPat=new RegExp(atom,"g")
	var domArr=domain.match(atomPat)
	var len=domArr.length

	if (domArr[domArr.length-1].length<2 || 
		  domArr[domArr.length-1].length>4) {
   
		// the address must end in a two letter or three letter word.
		//alert("The address must end in a three-letter domain, or two letter country.")
		return false
	}

	// Make sure there's a host name preceding the domain.
	if (len<2) {
		var errStr="This address is missing a hostname!"
		//alert(errStr)
		return false
	}

	// If we've gotten this far, everything's valid!
	return true;
}