Patent ID: 7194689

Claim:
A generic user control point tool for discovering, controlling, and displaying Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) devices on a system, the generic user control point tool comprising: a user interface that displays, in a first window panel: a plurality of user-selectable device search fields corresponding to a plurality of alternate types of searches for discovering UPnP devices on the system, wherein each of the user-selectable device search fields corresponds to one of the alternate types of searches for discovering UPnP devices on the system; a device properties search field displaying to the user a plurality of user-selectable UPnP device properties, wherein the user-selectable UPnP device properties are determined and displayed by the user interface in response to user selection of one of the user-selectable device search fields, and wherein the user interface determines the UPnP device properties by utilizing at least one file containing device property information, the at least one file corresponding to the user-selected device search field; wherein in response to user-selection of one of the user-selectable device search fields and one of the user-selectable UPnP device properties, the generic user control point tool collects UPnP device information that is displayed as a list of selectable UPnP devices at the first window panel of the user interface.