function makeHttpRequest(dest, callback_function, calling_element, return_xml) {

	var http_request, response, i;
	
	var activex_ids = [
	 'MSXML2.XMLHTTP.3.0',
	 'MSXML2.XMLHTTP',
	 'Microsoft.XMLHTTP'
	];


	if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari, IE7+...
	 http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
	
	 // In order to avoid a syntax error in Firefox, if the returned content is NOT valid XML, use the overrideMimeType method to set the content-type. 
	 if (http_request.overrideMimeType) {
	   http_request.overrideMimeType('text/html');
	 }
	
	} 
	else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE6 and older
	 for (i = 0; i < activex_ids.length; i++) {
	   try {
	     http_request = new ActiveXObject(activex_ids[i]);
	   } catch (e) {}
	 }
	}
	
	if (!http_request) {
	 alert("Unfortunately your browser doesn't support this feature.");
	 return false;
	}


	// the xmlhttp object triggers an event everytime the status changes

	http_request.onreadystatechange = function() {
	
		if (http_request.readyState !== 4) {
			// not ready yet
			return;
		}

		if (http_request.status !== 200) {
			// ready, but not OK
			alert('There was a problem with the request. (Code: ' + http_request.status + ')');
			return;
		}

		if (return_xml) {
			response = http_request.responseXML;
		} 
		else {
			response = http_request.responseText;
		}
		
		// invoke the callback

		callback_function(response, calling_element);
	};


	// open takes in the HTTP method and url.
	// third parameter: false = synchron
	http_request.open("GET", dest);


	// send the request. if this is a POST request we would have
	// sent post variables: send("name=aleem&gender=male)
	// Moz is fine with just send(); but
	// IE expects a value here, hence we do send(null);

	http_request.send(null);

}



function aj_handle_result(result, calling_element) {

	var target_element = '';
	
	if (calling_element) {
		if (calling_element == 'inputsearch1') {
			target_element = 'ajoutput2';
			
			// replace "suche läuft..." with original text after search is complete
			
			document.getElementById('ajoutput1').innerHTML = '<span style = \"font-size:0.9em;\">Name, Fachgebiet oder Adresse<br /><b>z.B \"Internist Müller Homburg\" oder "Kardiologe"</b></span><br style = \"clear:both;\" /><span style = \"font-size:0.9em;\">Mehrere Suchbegriffe sind m&ouml;glich.</span>';
		}
	}
	
	document.getElementById(target_element).innerHTML = result;
}