def configuration(*args, **kwargs):
    """this function just instantiates a ConfigurationManager and returns
    the configuration dictionary.  It accepts all the same parameters as the
    constructor for the ConfigurationManager class."""
    try:
        config_kwargs = {'mapping_class': kwargs.pop('mapping_class')}
    except KeyError:
        config_kwargs = {}
    cm = ConfigurationManager(*args, **kwargs)
    return cm.get_config(**config_kwargs)