sub new ($){

##</code><code>##

        my $self = shift;

        $self = bless {};

        $self{'index_path'} = shift;
 
##</code><code>##

        $LOCK_SH = '1';
        $LOCK_EX = '2';
        $LOCK_NB = '3';
        $LOCK_UN = '4';

##</code><code>##

        my %deleted_pair = ();

        $deleted_pair{$key} = $TABLE{$key};

        delete ($TABLE{$key});

        $self->update_index_table(\%TABLE);

        return (*deleted_pair)