Returns either stored settings of a given user or default settings.
        This behavior reflects the need for views to have some settings at
        hand when running. The settings are returned as dict object.

def get_user_data(user=None,group=None,data_kind=DINGOS_USER_DATA_TYPE_NAME):
        """
        Returns either stored settings of a given user or default settings.
        This behavior reflects the need for views to have some settings at
        hand when running. The settings are returned as dict object.
        """
        logger.debug("Get user settings called")

        if not user.is_authenticated():
            user = None

        try:
            user_config =  UserData.objects.get(user=user,group=group,data_kind=data_kind)
            return user_config.retrieve()
        except:
            return None