function stripe() {

  // the flag we'll use to keep track of 
  // whether the current row is odd or even
  var even = false;
  
  // if arguments are provided to specify the colours
  // of the even & odd rows, then use the them;
  // otherwise use the following defaults:
  var evenColor = arguments[1] ? arguments[1] : "#edf3fe";
  var oddColor = arguments[2] ? arguments[2] : "#fff";
  
  // obtain a reference to the desired table
  // if no such table exists, abort
  //var table = document.getElementsByTagName("table")[0];
  var tables = document.getElementsByTagName("table");
  for (var index = 0; index < tables.length; ++index) {
    var table = tables[index];
    //if (! table) { return; }
    
    // by definition, tables can have more than one tbody
    // element, so we'll have to get the list of child
    // &lt;tbody&gt;s 
    var tbodies = table.getElementsByTagName("tbody");
    
    // and iterate through them...
    for (var h = 0; h < tbodies.length; h++) {
    
      // find all the &lt;tr&gt; elements... 
      var trs = tbodies[h].getElementsByTagName("tr");
      
      // ... and iterate through them
      for (var i = 0; i < trs.length; i++) {
      
        // avoid rows that have a class attribute
        // or backgroundColor style
        if (! trs[i].style.backgroundColor) {
        
          // get all the cells in this row...
          var tds = trs[i].getElementsByTagName("td");
          
          // and iterate through them...
          for (var j = 0; j < tds.length; j++) {
          
            var mytd = tds[j];
            
            // avoid cells that have a class attribute
            // or backgroundColor style
            if (! mytd.style.backgroundColor) {
            
              mytd.style.backgroundColor = even ? evenColor : oddColor;
              
            }
          }
        }
        // flip from odd to even, or vice-versa
        even =  ! even;
      }
    }
  }
}
	
window.onload = function() {
  stripe();
}