var TabControlRotations = new Array();

			// finds the next tab that needs to be shown,
			// then calls the toggleTabControl() method to actually show the next tab,
			// then calls startRotationTabControl() to set the next time this method should be called again.
			function rotateTabControl(tabId, tabContentId, tabTotal, seconds)
			{
				var tabIdTemplate = tabId.substring(0, tabId.length -1);
				var tabContentIdTamplate = tabContentId.substring(0, tabContentId.length -1);
				var nextTab = 0;
   
				for (var i=1; i <= tabTotal; ++i)
				{
					var actualTab = document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate+i);
					var actualTabContainer = document.getElementById(tabContentIdTamplate+i);
   
					if (actualTab.className == 'active')
					{
						if (i == tabTotal)
						{
							nextTab = 1;
						}
						else
						{
							nextTab = i +1;
						}   
						nextTabId = document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate+nextTab);
						nextTabContentId = document.getElementById(tabContentIdTamplate+nextTab);
   
						toggleTabControl(nextTabId.id, nextTabContentId.id, tabTotal)
						startRotationTabControl(nextTabId.id, nextTabContentId.id, tabTotal, seconds)
						break;
					}
					else if (i == tabTotal)
					{
						nextTab = 1;
						nextTabId = document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate+nextTab);
						nextTabContentId = document.getElementById(tabContentIdTamplate+nextTab);
   
						toggleTabControl(nextTabId.id, nextTabContentId.id, tabTotal)
						startRotationTabControl(nextTabId.id, nextTabContentId.id, tabTotal, seconds)
					}
				}
			}
   
			// set the next time that function rotateTabControl() should be called.
			function startRotationTabControl(tabId, tabContentId, tabTotal, seconds)
			{
				var cmd = 'rotateTabControl("' + tabId + '", "' + tabContentId + '", "' + tabTotal + '", "' + seconds + '");';
				var tabTemplate = getTabTemplateId(tabId);
				TabControlRotations[tabTemplate] = window.setTimeout(cmd, seconds * 2000);
			}
   
			// stops the rotateTabControl() function from being automatically executed.
			function stopRotationTabControl(tabIdTemplate)
			{
				if (TabControlRotations[tabIdTemplate] != null)
				{
					window.clearTimeout(TabControlRotations[tabIdTemplate]);
					TabControlRotations[tabIdTemplate] = null;
				}
			}
   
			// this method changes the class names and sytles to reflect what tab the user has clicked on
			function toggleTabControl(tabId, tabContentId, tabTotal)
			{
				var tabIdTemplate = getTabTemplateId(tabId);
				var tabContentIdTamplate = getTabTemplateId(tabContentId);
   
				hideAllTabs(tabIdTemplate, tabContentIdTamplate, tabTotal)
   
				document.getElementById(tabId).className = 'active';
				document.getElementById(tabContentId).style.display = 'block';
   
				if (document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate +"Close") != null)
				{
					document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate +"Close").className = 'tabsMaximized';
				}
   
				stopRotationTabControl(tabIdTemplate);
			}
   
			// hides and shows the tabs
			function toggleTabVisibility(tabCloseId, tabId, tabContentId, tabTotal, defaultTabId)
			{
				var tabCloseElement = document.getElementById(tabCloseId);
				var flag = false;
   
				var tabIdTemplate = getTabTemplateId(tabId);
				var tabContentIdTamplate = getTabTemplateId(tabContentId);
   
				for (var i=1; i <= tabTotal; ++i)
				{
					var currentTab = document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate+i);
					var currentTabContainer = document.getElementById(tabContentIdTamplate+i);
   
					if (currentTab.className == 'active')
					{
						flag = true;
					}
				}
   
				if (flag)
				{
					hideAllTabs(tabIdTemplate, tabContentIdTamplate, tabTotal);
					tabCloseElement.className = 'tabsMinimized';
				}
   
				else
				{
					document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate+defaultTabId).className = 'active';
					document.getElementById(tabContentIdTamplate+defaultTabId).style.display = 'block';
					tabCloseElement.className = 'tabsMaximized';
				}
			}
   
			////////////////////
			// helper methods //
			////////////////////
   
			// this method hides all tabs and sets changes the tab className
			function hideAllTabs(tabIdTemplate, tabContentIdTamplate, tabTotal)
			{
				for (var i=1; i <= tabTotal; ++i)
				{
					var currentTab = document.getElementById(tabIdTemplate+i);
					var currentTabContainer = document.getElementById(tabContentIdTamplate+i);
   
					currentTab.className = 'inactive';
					currentTabContainer.style.display = 'none';
				}
			}
   
			// this returns the id template for the tab / tab content divs
			function getTabTemplateId(elementID)
			{
				return elementID.substring(0, elementID.length -1);
			}