String.prototype.trim = function() { return this.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/, ''); };

function $() {
	var elements = new Array();
	for (var i = 0; i < arguments.length; i++) {
		var element = arguments[i];
		if (typeof element == 'string')
			element = document.getElementById(element);
		if (arguments.length == 1)
			return element;
		elements.push(element);
	}
	return elements;
}

/*
 * Supply a class name as a string.
 * (optional) Supply a node. This can be obtained by getElementById, or simply by just throwing in “document” (it will be document if don’t supply a node)). It’s mainly useful if you know your parent and you don’t want to loop through the entire D.O.M.
 * (optional) Limit your results by adding a tagName. Very useful when you’re toggling checkboxes and etcetera. You could just supply “input“. Or, if you’re like me, and you said Good Bye to IE5, you can use the “*” asterisk as a catch-all (meaning ‘any element).
 */
function getElementsByClass(searchClass, node, tag) {
	var classElements = new Array();
	if ( node == null )
		node = document;
	if ( tag == null )
		tag = '*';
	var els = node.getElementsByTagName(tag);
	var elsLen = els.length;
	var pattern = new RegExp("(^|\\s)"+searchClass+"(\\s|$)");
	for (i = 0, j = 0; i < elsLen; i++) {
		if ( pattern.test(els[i].className) ) {
			classElements[j] = els[i];
			j++;
		}
	}
	return classElements;
}