public int getIndex( String key )
  {
    int back = -1 ;

    if ( key != null)
    {
      if (key.length() > 0)
      {
        int keyHash = key.hashCode() ;
        int counter = 0 ;

        Enumeration myEnum = translations.elements() ;
        while ( ( myEnum.hasMoreElements() ) && ( back < 0 ) )
        {
          TMultiLanguageEntry dummy = ( TMultiLanguageEntry ) myEnum.
              nextElement() ;
          if ( dummy.getKey().hashCode() == keyHash )
          {
            back = counter ;  // found -> save index
          }
          counter++ ;
        }
      }
    }
    return back ;
  }