function checkForm(form)
{
	//declare variables
	var formOk = true;
	var errorString = "Form was not submitted due to the following reasons:\n";
	
	//create regular expressions
	//var emailRegExp = /^\w(\.?[\w-])+@\w(\.?[\w-])*\.([a-z]{3,4}(\.[a-z]{2})?|[a-z]{2}(\.[a-z]{2})?)$/i; //checks email
var emailRegExp = /^[a-zA-Z_0-9](\.?[a-zA-Z_0-9-])+@[a-zA-Z0-9](\.?[a-zA-Z_0-9-])*\.([a-z]{3,4}(\.[a-z]{2})?|[a-z]{2}(\.[a-z]{2})?)$/i; 
	var passwordRegExp = /^[a-zA-Z_0-9]{5,}$/; // checks password
	var usernameRegExp =  /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/; //check user name

	if(!usernameRegExp.test(form.user_name.value))
        {
                errorString += " - Only alpha numeric characters are allowed in username\n";
                formOk  = false;
        }	
		
	if(!emailRegExp.test(form.email_id.value))
	{
		errorString += " - You must enter a valid email address\n";
		formOk  = false;
	}
		
	if(!passwordRegExp.test(form.password.value))
	{
		errorString += " - Password must be at least 5 characters long and cannot contain spaces\n";
		formOk  = false;		
	}
		
	if(form.confirm_password != null)
	{
		var pass = form.password.value;
		var conf = form.confirm_password.value
			
		//check if password equals confirmed password 
		if(pass != conf)
		{
			errorString += " - Both passwords must be the same\n";
			formOk  = false;		
		}	
	}
	//alert
	if(formOk == false)
	{
		errorString += "Please check your entry and try again";
		alert(errorString);
	}
			
	return formOk;	
}


function verify(form)
{

	//declare variables
        var formOk = true;
        var errorString = "Form was not submitted due to the following reasons:\n";

        //create regular expressions
        var passwordRegExp = /^\w{5,}$/; // checks password
        var usernameRegExp =  /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/; //check user name

        if(!usernameRegExp.test(form.user_name.value))
        {
                errorString += " - Only alpha numeric characters are allowed in username\n";
                formOk  = false;
        }

        if(!passwordRegExp.test(form.password.value))
        {
                errorString += " - Password must be at least 5 characters long and cannot contain spaces\n";
                formOk  = false;
        }

    	//alert
        if(formOk == false)
        {
                errorString += "Please check your entry and try again";
                alert(errorString);
        }

        return formOk;
}

function checkUserEmpty(theForm)
{
	//declare variables
        var formOk = true;
        var errorString = "Form was not submitted due to the following reasons:\n";
	var usernameRegExp =  /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/; //check user name


        if(!usernameRegExp.test(theForm.email.value))
        {
                errorString += " - Only alpha numeric characters are allowed in username\n";
                formOk  = false;
        }

	//alert
        if(formOk == false)
        {
                errorString += "Please check your entry and try again";
                alert(errorString);
        }

        return formOk;

}