// converts a string to an xml object for parsing via DOM structure
function convertStringToXML(text){
	try {
	  xmlDoc = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
	  xmlDoc.async = "false";
	  xmlDoc.loadXML(text);
	} catch(e) {
	  parser = new DOMParser();
	  xmlDoc = parser.parseFromString(text,"text/xml");
	}
	
	return xmlDoc;
}