A method for configuring a portable device to command functional operations of a first appliance and a second appliance, comprising: retrieving by the first appliance from the second appliance (108,110) through use of a physical and logical interconnection between the first appliance and the second appliance that is referenced to a standard first data indicative of an identity of the second appliance; obtaining from the first appliance the first data and second data indicative of a port (212,214) of the first appliance by which the second appliance is interconnected with the first appliance through use of the physical and logical interconnection; using the first data to identify within a database having a plurality of appliance records each of which is cross-referenced to an appliance an appliance record having data in one or more record fields which matches the identity of the second appliance; using a codeset identifier associated with the identified appliance record to select from a plurality of codesets a codeset for use in commanding functional operations of the second appliance; and using the selected codeset and the second data to configure the portable device whereupon, in response to the portable device being placed into a mode for use in commanding functional operations of both the first appliance and the second appliance, the portable device transmits to the first appliance a command to cause the first appliance to select the port of the first appliance by which the second appliance is interconnected with the first appliance through use of the physical and logical interconnection and assigns commands from the selected codeset to one or more input elements of the portable device such that activations of the one or more input elements will cause the portable device to transmit commands to control corresponding functional operations of the second appliance. retrieving by the first appliance from the second appliance (108,110) through use of a physical and logical interconnection between the first appliance and the second appliance that is referenced to a standard first data indicative of an identity of the second appliance; obtaining from the first appliance the first data and second data indicative of a port (212,214) of the first appliance by which the second appliance is interconnected with the first appliance through use of the physical and logical interconnection; using the first data to identify within a database having a plurality of appliance records each of which is cross-referenced to an appliance an appliance record having data in one or more record fields which matches the identity of the second appliance; using a codeset identifier associated with the identified appliance record to select from a plurality of codesets a codeset for use in commanding functional operations of the second appliance; and using the selected codeset and the second data to configure the portable device whereupon, in response to the portable device being placed into a mode for use in commanding functional operations of both the first appliance and the second appliance, the portable device transmits to the first appliance a command to cause the first appliance to select the port of the first appliance by which the second appliance is interconnected with the first appliance through use of the physical and logical interconnection and assigns commands from the selected codeset to one or more input elements of the portable device such that activations of the one or more input elements will cause the portable device to transmit commands to control corresponding functional operations of the second appliance.