var side_bar_html;
      var gmarkers;
      var htmls;
      var i;


function load() {

if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) { 

      var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map"));
      map.addControl(new GLargeMapControl());
      map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl());

      // ==== It is necessary to make a setCenter call of some description before adding markers ====
      // ==== At this point we dont know the real values ====
      map.setCenter(new GLatLng(38.180174, 15.548945), 16);
      
      var side_bar_html = "";
      var gmarkers = [];
      var htmls = [];
      var i = 0;


      function createMarker(point,name,html) {
        var marker = new GMarker(point);
        GEvent.addListener(marker, "click", function() {
          marker.openInfoWindowHtml(html);
        });
        gmarkers[i] = marker;
        htmls[i] = html;
        side_bar_html += '<a href="javascript:myclick(' + i + ')">' + name + '</a><br>';
        i++;
        return marker;
      }

      
      // ===== Start with an empty GLatLngBounds object =====     
      var bounds = new GLatLngBounds();
      
      // Read the data from example.xml
      var request = GXmlHttp.create();
      request.open("GET", "./fileadmin/messina2008/xml/LaFauci.xml", true);
      request.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (request.readyState == 4) {
          var xmlDoc = GXml.parse(request.responseText);
          // obtain the array of markers and loop through it
          var markers = xmlDoc.documentElement.getElementsByTagName("marker");
          
          for (var i = 0; i < markers.length; i++) {
            // obtain the attribues of each marker
            var lat = parseFloat(markers[i].getAttribute("lat"));
            var lng = parseFloat(markers[i].getAttribute("lng"));
            var point = new GLatLng(lat,lng);
            var html = markers[i].getAttribute("html");
            var label = markers[i].getAttribute("label");
            // create the marker
            var marker = createMarker(point,label,html);	
            map.addOverlay(marker);
            
            // ==== Each time a point is found, extent the bounds ato include it =====
            bounds.extend(point);
          }

          document.getElementById("side_bar").innerHTML = side_bar_html;
          
          // ===== determine the zoom level from the bounds =====
          map.setZoom(map.getBoundsZoomLevel(bounds));

          // ===== determine the centre from the bounds ======
          map.setCenter(bounds.getCenter());

          
        }
      }
      request.send(null);

    }
    
    // display a warning if the browser was not compatible
    else {
      alert("Sorry, the Google Maps API is not compatible with this browser");
    }

}

      function myclick(i) {
        gmarkers[i].openInfoWindowHtml(htmls[i]);
      }