// Example:
// writeCookie("myCookie", "my name", 24);
// Stores the string "my name" in the cookie "myCookie" which expires after 24 hours.
function writeCookie(name, value, hours) {
	var expire = "";
	if(hours != null) {
		expire = new Date((new Date()).getTime() + hours * 3600000);
		expire = "; expires=" + expire.toGMTString();
 	}
	document.cookie = name + "=" + escape(value) + expire;
}

// Example:
// alert( readCookie("myCookie") );
function readCookie(name) {
	var cookieValue = "";
	var search = name + "=";
	if(document.cookie.length > 0) { 
		offset = document.cookie.indexOf(search);
		if (offset != -1) { 
			offset += search.length;
			end = document.cookie.indexOf(";", offset);
			if (end == -1) end = document.cookie.length;
			cookieValue = unescape(document.cookie.substring(offset, end))
		}
	}
	return cookieValue;
}