def getCounter(self, key):
# initialise counter
try:
f = open(self.counter_file, 'r+')
self._counters = Unpickler(f).load()
except:
f = open(self.counter_file, 'w+')
self._counters = {}
f.close()
if not self._counters.has_key(key):
self._counters[key] = 0
return self._counters[key]
