function BrowserKit() {
	// =====[ Public Properties ]===============================================

	// These members are used for methods that return TRUE on success / FALSE 
	// on failure, but must also return other information.
	this.lastReturnedObject = null;		// Object reference returned by last 
										// function (for functions whose purpose 
										// is to return an object reference 
										// given some information).

	this.lastError = 0;			// Numeric error code returned by last function.
								// Meaning depends on function that was called.





	// =====[ Public Methods ]==================================================

	this.getBrowser = function(bForceDetect) {
		if (!this.browser || bForceDetect) {
			this.browser = this._detectBrowser();
		}
		return this.browser;
	}

	// - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	this.getOS = function(bForceDetect) {
		if (!this.os || bForceDetect) {
			this.os = this._detectOS();
		}
		return this.os;
	}

	// - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	this.getElementById = function(id, layerName) {
		// Initialise Variables
		var bSupported = false;
		var oResult;
		this.lastReturnedObject = null;
		this.lastError = 0;
		
		// STEP 1: Attempt to get a reference to the specified element using 
		//         whatever method the browser supports.
			if (document.all) {
				bSupported = true;
				oResult = document.all[id];
			}
			else if (document.getElementById) {
				bSupported = true;
				oResult = document.getElementById(id);
			}
			else if (document.layers) {
				// Insert code here to use the layerName attribute to locate the 
				// specified element on the layer.
			}
		
		// STEP 2: Update the lastReturnedObject property
			if (oResult) {this.lastReturnedObject = oResult;}
		
		// STEP 3: If the previous step failed, report the reason for failure 
		//         by using the .lastError property.
			if (this.lastReturnedObject == null) {
				if (bSupported) {
					// ERROR: Element not Found
					this.lastError = 2;
				} else {
					// ERROR: Operation not supported by Browser
					this.lastError = 1;
				}
			}

		// RETURN a reference to the specified DOM object
		return (this.lastReturnedObject);
	}

	// - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	this.debug_dumpInfo = function() {
		var sMsg = "Browser Info:\n";
		sMsg += this.debug_dumpObject( this.getBrowser() );
		
		sMsg += "\nPlatform Info:\n";
		sMsg += this.debug_dumpObject( this.getOS() );
		
		return sMsg;
	}

	// - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	this.debug_dumpObject = function(obj, nMaxLevels, nNestLevel)  {
		var sReturn = "";

		// Default values for optional arguments
		if (nMaxLevels == null) {nMaxLevels = 5;}
		if (nNestLevel == null) {nNestLevel = 0;}
		
		// Deal with "limited recursion depth". This allows calling code to 
		// prevent *huge* loops on very complex objects
		if (nNestLevel > nMaxLevels) {
			for (i = 1; i <= nNestLevel; i++) {sReturn += "...";}
			sReturn += " Maximum depth reached. There is more detail, but it is hidden.";
			return sReturn;
		}
		
		// Iterate over the current object's properties, generating a plain text 
		// "dump" of their names and values.
		for (prop in obj) {
			for (i = 1; i <= nNestLevel; i++) {sReturn += "...";}
			if (nNestLevel) {sReturn += " "}
			
			if (typeof obj[prop] == "object") {
				sReturn += (prop + " >>\n");
				sReturn += this.debug_dumpObject(obj[prop], nMaxLevels, (nNestLevel + 1));
			} else {
				sReturn += (prop + ": ");
				sReturn += (obj[prop] + "\n");
			}
		}
		
		return sReturn;
	}





	// =====[ "PRIVATE" Methods ]===============================================

	this._detectBrowser = function() {
		var ua = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase(); 
		var browser = new Object();
		
		// browser engine name
		var isGecko       = (ua.indexOf('gecko') != -1 && ua.indexOf('safari') == -1);
		var isAppleWebKit = (ua.indexOf('applewebkit') != -1);
		
		// browser name
		var isKonqueror   = (ua.indexOf('konqueror') != -1); 
		var isSafari      = (ua.indexOf('safari') != - 1);
		var isOmniweb     = (ua.indexOf('omniweb') != - 1);
		var isOpera       = (ua.indexOf('opera') != -1); 
		var isIcab        = (ua.indexOf('icab') != -1); 
		var isAol         = (ua.indexOf('aol') != -1); 
		var isIE          = (ua.indexOf('msie') != -1 && !isOpera && (ua.indexOf('webtv') == -1) ); 
		var isMozilla     = (isGecko && ua.indexOf('gecko/') + 14 == ua.length); 
		var isFirebird    = (ua.indexOf('firebird/') != -1);
		var isNS          = ( (isGecko) ? (ua.indexOf('netscape') != -1) : ( (ua.indexOf('mozilla') != -1) && !isOpera && !isSafari && (ua.indexOf('spoofer') == -1) && (ua.indexOf('compatible') == -1) && (ua.indexOf('webtv') == -1) && (ua.indexOf('hotjava') == -1) ) );
		
		// Correct version number
			var versionMinor = parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);
			browser.version = new Object();
	
			if (isGecko && !isMozilla) {
				browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('/', ua.indexOf('gecko/') + 6) + 1 ) );
				browser.type = "mozilla";
			}
			else if (isMozilla) {
				browser.versionMinor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('rv:') + 3 ) );
				browser.type = "mozilla";
			}
			else if (isIE) {
				browser.type = "ie";
				if (versionMinor >= 4) {
					browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('msie ') + 5 ) );
				}
			}
			else if (isKonqueror) {
				browser.type = "konqueror";
				browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('konqueror/') + 10 ) );
			}
			else if (isSafari) {
				browser.type = "safari";
				browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.lastIndexOf('safari/') + 7 ) );
			}
			else if (isOmniweb) {
				browser.type = "omniweb";
				browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.lastIndexOf('omniweb/') + 8 ) );
			}
			else if (isOpera) {
				browser.type = "opera";
				browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('opera') + 6 ) );
			}
			else if (isIcab) {
				browser.type = "icab";
				browser.version.minor = parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('icab') + 5 ) );
			}
			else {
				browser.type = "unknown";
				browser.version.minor = versionMinor; 
			}
			
			browser.version.major = parseInt(browser.version.minor); 
		
		// Rendering Engine Versions
			browser.version.gecko = ( (isGecko) ? ua.substring( (ua.lastIndexOf('gecko/') + 6), (ua.lastIndexOf('gecko/') + 14) ) : -1 );
			browser.version.mozillaEquiv = ( (isGecko) ? parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('rv:') + 3 ) ) : -1 );
			browser.version.appleWebKit = ( (isAppleWebKit) ? parseFloat( ua.substring( ua.indexOf('applewebkit/') + 12) ) : -1 );
		
		// Browser Rendering Engines
			if (isGecko) {
				// Browser is some variation of the Mozilla gecko engine
				browser.family = "gecko";
			}
			else if (isAppleWebKit) {
				browser.family = "applewebkit";
			}
			else if (isKonqueror || isSafari) {
				// Safari is based on konquereo, so all safari/konqueror browser will 
				// return "konqueror" here.
				browser.family = "konqueror";
			}
			else {
				browser.family = "";
			}
		
		// Browser Compatibility
			browser.compatible = new Object();
			browser.compatible.mozilla = ( (ua.indexOf('mozilla') != -1) && !isNS && !isMozilla);
			browser.compatible.ie = ( (ua.indexOf('msie') != -1) && !isIE);
		
		// Browser Capabilities
			browser.supports = new Object();
			browser.supports.dom1 = (document.getElementById != null);
			browser.supports.dom2Event = ((document.addEventListener != null) && (document.removeEventListener != null));
		
		// CSS Compatibility Mode
			// Will return BackCompat for browsers that don't support WC3 
			// standards, or standards-compliant browsers that are rendering in 
			// backwards-compatibility mode because of a DOCTYPE directive in the 
			// page.
			browser.renderingMode = document.compatMode ? document.compatMode : 'BackCompat';
	
		// RETURN: Object containing browser details
		return browser;
	}
	
	// - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	this._detectOS = function() {
		var ua = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase(); 
		var os = new Object();
	
		// Tests on UserAgent string for clues to operating system
		var isWin    = (ua.indexOf('win') != -1);
		var isWin32  = (isWin && ( ua.indexOf('95') != -1 || ua.indexOf('98') != -1 || ua.indexOf('me') != -1 || ua.indexOf('nt') != -1 || ua.indexOf('win32') != -1 || ua.indexOf('32bit') != -1 || ua.indexOf('xp') != -1) );
		var isWinNT  = (isWin && ( ua.indexOf('nt') != -1 || ua.indexOf('win32') != -1 || ua.indexOf('xp') != -1)) // Might be a problem in looking for "nt" with "win" somewhere in the string. Is this reliable???
		var isMac    = (ua.indexOf('mac') != -1);
		var isUnix   = (ua.indexOf('unix') != -1 || ua.indexOf('sunos') != -1 || ua.indexOf('bsd') != -1 || ua.indexOf('x11') != -1)
		var isLinux  = (ua.indexOf('linux') != -1);
		
		// Operating System Family and Specific Type
		if (isWin) {
			if (isWinNT) {
				os.family = "win-32";
				os.type = "win-nt";
			}
			else if (isWin32) {
				os.family = "win-32";
				os.type = "win-9x";
			}
			else {
				os.family = "win-32";
				os.type = "win-3x";
			}
		}
		else if (isMac) {
			// To-Do: Would be nice to be able to differentiate between classic 
			// MacOS and MacOS X families.
			os.family = "mac-os";
			os.type = "mac-os";
		}
		else if (isUnix || isLinux) {
			os.family = "posix";
			if (isLinux) {
				os.type = "linux";
			} else {
				os.type = "unix";
			}
		}
		
		// RETURN: Object containing Operating System details
		return os;
	}
}