function createHTTPHandler()
{
    httphandler = false;
    // branch for native XMLHttpRequest object
    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) 
    {
    	try 
      	{
      		httphandler = new XMLHttpRequest();
        }
		catch(e) 
        {
      		httphandler = false;
        }
    // branch for IE/Windows ActiveX version
    } 
    else if (window.ActiveXObject) 
    {
          try 
          {
            	httphandler = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
          }
		  catch(e) 
          {
          	try 
            {
                httphandler = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
            }
			catch(e) 
            {
                httphandler = false;
            }
      	  }
    }
    return httphandler;
}