function StatusBar(sel,options) {
    var _I = this;       
    var _sb = null;
    
    // options     
    this.elementId = "_showstatus";
    this.prependMultiline = true;   
    this.showCloseButton = false; 
    this.afterTimeoutText = null;

    this.cssClass = "statusbar";
    this.highlightClass = "statusbarhighlight";
    this.errorClass = "statuserror";
    this.closeButtonClass = "statusbarclose";
    this.additive = false;   
    
    $j.extend(this,options);
        
    if (sel)
      _sb = $j(sel);
    
    // create statusbar object manually
    if (!_sb)
    {
        _sb = $j("<div id='_statusbar' class='" + _I.cssClass + "'>" +
                "<div class='" + _I.closeButtonClass +  "'>" +
                (_I.showCloseButton ? " X </div></div>" : "") )
                 .appendTo(document.body)                   
                 .show();
    }
    if (_I.showCloseButton)
        $j("." + _I.cssClass).click(function(e) { $j(_sb).hide(); });
          

    this.show = function(message,timeout,isError)
    {            
        if (_I.additive)       
        {
            var html = "<div style='margin-bottom: 2px;' >" + message + "</div>";
            if (_I.prependMultiline)
                _sb.prepend(html);
            else
                _sb.append(html);            
        }
        else
        {
            
            if (!_I.showCloseButton)    
                _sb.text(message);
            else
            {             
                var t = _sb.find("div.statusbarclose");                
                _sb.text(message).prepend(t);
            }
        }               
        
        _sb.show();        
        
        if (timeout)
        {
            if (isError)
                _sb.addClass(_I.errorClass);
            else
                _sb.addClass(_I.highlightClass);
                
            setTimeout( 
                function() {
                     _sb.removeClass(_I.highlightClass); 
                     if (_I.afterTimeoutText)
                       _I.show(_I.afterTimeoutText);
                 },
                 timeout);
        }                
    }  
    this.release = function()
    {
        if(_statusbar)
            $j(_statusbar).remove();
    }       
}
// use this as a global instance to customize constructor
// or do nothing and get a default status bar
var _statusbar = null;
function showStatus(message,timeout,additive,isError)
{
    if (!_statusbar)
        _statusbar = new StatusBar();
    _statusbar.show(message,timeout,additive,isError);
}