var Cookie = {
	
	setSessionCookie: function(name, value) {
		document.cookie = escape(name) + "=" + escape(value) + "; path=/";
	},

	getCookieValue: function(name) {
		var exp = new RegExp (escape(name) + "=([^;]+)");
		if (exp.test (document.cookie + ";")) {
			exp.exec (document.cookie + ";");
			return unescape(RegExp.$1);
		}
		else {
			return null;
		}
	},

	setPersistentCookie: function(name, value, period, offset) {
		var expireDate = new Date ();
		var myPeriod = period;
		offset = offset / 1;
  		
		switch (myPeriodType.toLowerCase()) {
			case "years":
				expireDate.setYear(expireDate.getFullYear()+offset);
				break;
			case "months":
				expireDate.setMonth(expireDate.getMonth()+offset);
				break;
			case "days":
				expireDate.setDate(expireDate.getDate()+offset);
				break;
			case "hours":
				expireDate.setHours(expireDate.getHours()+offset);
				break;
			case "minutes":
				expireDate.setMinutes(expireDate.getMinutes()+offset);
				break;
			default:
				alert ("Invalid period");
				break;
		  } 
		  
		  document.cookie = escape(name) + "=" + escape(value) + "; expires=" + expireDate.toGMTString() + "; path=/";
	},
	
	removePersistentCookie: function(name) {
		if (getCookieValue(name)) 
			setPersistentCookie(name, "pending removal", "years", -1);
	}
};