code: public void configure(Object obj) throws ClassNotFoundException, NoSuchMethodException,
              InvocationTargetException, InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException
      {
          //Check the class of the object
          Class oClass = nodeClass(_config);
          if (oClass != null)
          {
              if (obj != null && !oClass.isInstance(obj))
                      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Object is not of type " + oClass);
              if (obj == null) obj = oClass.newInstance();
          }
          configure(obj, _config, 0);
      }
docs: Configure an object. If the object is of the approprate class, the XML configuration script
  is applied to the object.
  
  @param obj The object to be configured.
  @exception ClassNotFoundException
  @exception NoSuchMethodException
  @exception InvocationTargetException
  @throws IllegalAccessException
  @throws InstantiationException