def METHOD_NAME(node):
    """ returns a list of all parameters for a widget element """
    outparams = {}
    for k, v in list(node.attributes.items()):
        if v and v[0] in "{[(\"'":
            v = eval(v)
        else:
            try:
                v = int(v)
            except ValueError:
                try:
                    v = float(v)
                except ValueError:
                    pass
        outparams[str(k)] = v
    for e in node.childNodes:
        if e.nodeType == e.ELEMENT_NODE \
                and (e.nodeName not in pyvcp_widgets.elements):
            try:
                v = eval(e.childNodes[0].nodeValue)
            except: 
                exc_type, exc_value, exc_tb = sys.exc_info()
                raise SystemExit(("Error evaluating xml file:\n"
                    "Widget %s, Property %s\n%s: %s") % (
                        node.nodeName, e.nodeName, exc_type.__name__, exc_value))
            outparams[str(e.nodeName)] = v
    return outparams