public static class TransactionUtils
{
  public static final int ASCENDING = 1;
  public static final int DESCENDING = -1;  
  
  public static String getStringKeyForEntry(Object o)
  {
    Map.Entry me = (Map.Entry) o;
    return (String) me.getKey();
  }

  public static int getIntValueForEntry(Object o)
  {
    Map.Entry me = (Map.Entry) o;
    return ((Integer) me.getValue()).intValue();
  }
  
  //sort a list of Map.Entrys by their value. This assumes that the value is an Integer! 
  //order = 1 for Ascending, order = -1 for descending.  
  public static void sortUniqueLetterCountsByLetter(ArrayList entryList, final int order)
  {
    Collections.sort(entryList, new Comparator()
    {
      public int compare(Object o1, Object o2)
      {
        Map.Entry me1 = (Map.Entry) o1;
        Map.Entry me2 = (Map.Entry) o2;

        return (((Character)me1.getKey()) - ((Character)me2.getKey())) * order;
      }
    }
    );
  }
}