function convQuotes (thing) {
  return thing.replace(/"/g,'~%~').replace(/'/g,'~^~').replace(/\$/g,'\\\$');
}

function stripHTML (thing) {
  return thing.replace(/<\/?[^>]+(>|$)/g,"").replace(/\r/g,"").replace(/\n/g,"");	
}

function stripNewLineChars (thing) {
  return thing.replace(/\n/g,"").replace(/\r/g,"");	
}

function trimStr (thing) {
  var s=thing.replace(/^\s*/,"").replace(/\s*$/,"");	
  return s;
}