// --------------------------------------------------------------
  // --------------------------------------------------------------
  public static Version[] getAvailablePrefVersions(Preferences prefs) throws BackingStoreException {
    String[] sver = prefs.childrenNames();
    ArrayList l = new ArrayList(sver.length);
    for (int i = 0; i < sver.length; ++i) {
      try {
        l.add(new Version(sver[i]));
      } catch (Exception e) {
      }
    }

    int n = 0;
    Version[] ret = new Version[l.size()];
    for (Iterator ii = l.iterator(); ii.hasNext(); ) {
      Version v = (Version) ii.next();
      ret[n++] = v;
    }
    return ret;
  }