function nichtsTun () {
  ; // nichts tun
}

function checkInnerLength (checkObj, showObj, maxLength) {
  if (checkObj.value != null && checkObj.value != checkObj.innerHTML) { // FireFox
    if (checkObj.value.length > maxLength) {
      checkObj.value = checkObj.value.substring(0, maxLength);
    }
    showObj.innerHTML = checkObj.value.length;
  } else { // IE
    if (checkObj.innerHTML.length > maxLength) {
      checkObj.innerHTML = checkObj.innerHTML.substring(0, maxLength);
    }
    showObj.innerHTML = checkObj.innerHTML.length;  
  }
}