function locn_params() {
     var s = location.search
     var ret = new Object

     s = s.substring(1,s.length)
     var sa = s.split("&")

     for (var i=0; i<sa.length; i++) {
          var saa = sa[i].split("=")
          if (saa.length > 1) {
               var n = saa[0].toUpperCase()
               var v = saa[1]

               ret[n] = v
          }
     }

     return (ret)
}