// this function is need to work around 
  // a bug in IE related to element attributes
  function hasClass(obj) {
     var result = false;
     if (obj.getAttributeNode("class") != null) {
         result = obj.getAttributeNode("class").value;
     }
     return result;
  }   

 function stripe(id) {

    // the flag we'll use to keep dtack of 
    // whether the current row is odd or even
    var even = false;
  
    // if arguments are provided to specify the colours
    // of the even & odd rows, then use the them;
    // otherwise use the following defaults:
    var evenColor = arguments[1] ? arguments[1] : "#fff";
    var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#eee";
  
    // obtain a reference to the desired table
    // if no such table exists, abort
    var div = document.getElementById(id);
    if (! div) { return; }
    
    // by definition, tables can have more than one dl
    // element, so we'll have to get the list of child
    // <dl>s 
    var dls = div.getElementsByTagName("dl");
 	//alert(dls.length +"DLs gefunden");
	
    // and iterate through them...
    for (var h = 0; h < dls.length; h++) {
    var even = false;
     // find all the &lt;dt&gt; elements... 
      var dts = dls[h].getElementsByTagName("dt");
      var dds = dls[h].getElementsByTagName("dd");
      // ... and iterate through them
	  
      for (var i = 0; i < dts.length; i++) {
	    // avoid rows that have a class atdtibute
        // or backgroundColor style
	    if (!hasClass(dts[i]) && ! dts[i].style.backgroundColor) {
		dts[i].style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor : oddColor;
        if(dds[i]){
			if (dts[i].style.backgroundColor = even) dds[i].style.backgroundColor = oddColor;
			else 									 dds[i].style.backgroundColor = evenColor;
			}
        }
        // flip from odd to even, or vice-versa
        even =  ! even;
      }
    }
  }