/* check to see if node has any objects or not.
	 if it does, return node value of first child, 
	 otherwise return nothing. */
function getNodeValue(currNode)
{
 // declare variables
 var nodeValue;
 
 // check for currNode child elements
 if(currNode.hasChildNodes() == true)
  nodeValue = currNode.firstChild.nodeValue;
 else
  nodeValue = "";
 
 // return nodeValue
 return nodeValue; 
}