code: function() {
          var aDefinitions = this._aDefinitions;
          
          // Internal recursive function to define Column instances
          var parseColumns = function(nodeList, oSelf) {
              // Parse each node at this depth for attributes and any children
              for(var j=0; j<nodeList.length; j++) {
                  var currentNode = nodeList[j];
                  
                  // Get the Column for each node
                  var oColumn = oSelf.getColumnById(currentNode.yuiColumnId);
                  
                  if(oColumn) {    
                      // Update the current values
                      var oDefinition = oColumn.getDefinition();
                      for(var name in oDefinition) {
                          if(YAHOO.lang.hasOwnProperty(oDefinition, name)) {
                              currentNode[name] = oDefinition[name];
                          }
                      }
                  }
                              
                  // The Column has descendants
                  if(YAHOO.lang.isArray(currentNode.children)) {
                      // The children themselves must also be parsed for Column instances
                      parseColumns(currentNode.children, oSelf);
                  }
              }
          };
  
          parseColumns(aDefinitions, this);
          this._aDefinitions = aDefinitions;
          return aDefinitions;
      }
docs: Public accessor to the definitions array.
  
  @method getDefinitions
  @return {Object[]} Array of object literal Column definitions.