//
// helper routine for parsing a string that looks like
//
//  param1=value1&param2=value2
//
// into an object that can be used like this:
//
//  obj["param1"], obj["param2"]
//
function parseResponse( response )
{
    var map = new Object();
    var pairs = response.split( "&" );
    for( var i = 0 ; i < pairs.length ; ++i )
    {
        var param = pairs[i].split( "=" );
        map[param[0]] = param[1];
    }
    
    return map;
}