I have html document. In that document I have some code that looks like the
following:
<tr>
<td>Name:</td>
<td>
<div class="Data" id="login_name">
<input type=text></input>
</div>
</td>
</tr>

The user enters in their login name (and their password in another input
box not shown here) and presses a button on the page that says "login". The
button has onclick="login(); function. In "login()" to access what the user
entered in the input box by accessing the DOM tree. Here is what I am doing
right now.

// the login is actually a var that can contain the login
// name or password. This returns an object
var element = document.getElementById("login_name");

// child = INPUT, which it should
var child = element.firstChild.nodeName;

[don't know what the next line here should be]

What I am trying to do is access is the value a user types into the input
box. I can look at the DOM tree and see:

+ DIV = Name IV Type:ELEMENT_NODE Att:class=Data,id=login_name
INPUT - Name:INPUT Type:ELEMENT_NODE Att: value=bob

note that the user here types bob in thee login text area. I've tried various
ways to access this "bob" value but cannot find the correct method. I will
need to be able to read/write this text area. Should I change my actual HTML
and put XML tags around the <input type=text></input> to something like <LOGINNAME><input
type=text></input></LOGINNAME> and this will create a way to access the value
in the input box? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Joe Crew