/**
 * ----------------------------------------------------------
 * Flash a message on screen
 * ----------------------------------------------------------
 */
function flash(message)
{
    $('div#message').html('<p>' + message + '</p>');
    $('div#message').show();
    $('div#message').fadeOut(3000);
}

/**
 * ----------------------------------------------------------
 * Generate select box options HTML from passed json data, access
 * 'valueField' json property for <option> value property, and 'textField' for
 * the option content.
 * ----------------------------------------------------------
 */
function get_options(data, valueField, textField, include_blank)
{	
    var options = (include_blank) ? '<option value="">Choose...</option>' : '';
    
    for(var i = 0; i < data.length; i++)
    {        
        options += '<option value="' + data[i][valueField] + '">' + data[i][textField] + '</option>';
    }  
    
    return options;
}