get the latest counter for a certain parameter type.

        Parameters
        ----------
        name : str
            the parameter type

        Returns
        -------
        count : int
            the latest count for a parameter type

        Note
        ----
        calling this function increments the counter for the passed
        parameter type

def get_count(self,name):
        """ get the latest counter for a certain parameter type.

        Parameters
        ----------
        name : str
            the parameter type

        Returns
        -------
        count : int
            the latest count for a parameter type

        Note
        ----
        calling this function increments the counter for the passed
        parameter type

        """
        if name not in self.mlt_counter:
            self.mlt_counter[name] = 1
            c = 0
        else:
            c = self.mlt_counter[name]
            self.mlt_counter[name] += 1
            #print(name,c)
        return c