function getXMLHTTP() { //fuction to return the xml http object
	var xmlhttp=false;	
	try{
	xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
	}
	catch(e){		
		try{			
		xmlhttp= new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
		}
		catch(e){
			try{
			xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
			}
			catch(e1){
			xmlhttp=false;
			}
		}
	}

	return xmlhttp;
}


function theStates(strURL,p)
{
	strURL="files/scripts/states.php?id="+strURL+"&p="+p;
	var req = getXMLHTTP(); // fuction to get xmlhttp object
    if (req)
    {
    	req.onreadystatechange = function()
		{
			if (req.readyState == 4)
			{
		    	if (req.status == 200)
				{
		        	document.getElementById('citylist').innerHTML=req.responseText;
			    }
		    	else
			    { 
			        alert("There was a problem while using XMLHTTP:\n");
      			}
	      	}            
      	}        
		req.open("GET", strURL, true); //open url using get method
		req.send(null);
	}
}