public Object extractHardRef(Object o){
  if (o == null) {
    return null;
  }
  Object val=softReferenceMap.get(o);
  if (val != null) {
    return val;
  }
  return null;
}

public Object extractHardRef ( Object o ) { if ( o == null ) { return null ; } Object val = softReferenceMap . get ( o ) ; if ( val != null ) { return val ; } return null ; }
extracts the hard reference from the soft / weak reference given
