local *F;
    open (F, ">$file") || die "Error opening $file: $!\n";
    my ($id, $obj);

    while (($id, $obj) = each %$all_instances) {	
        my $class = ref($obj);

	my @attrs =
	    $obj->get_attributes(@{$this->
                            get_attrs_for_class($class)});

        ### I discovered that after this line of code,
        ### it either closes the file or redirects the 
        ### file descriptor.

	my @array = ($class, $id, @attrs);
	
        Storable::store_fd (\@array, \*F);

    }
    close(F);