Patent ID: 7280955

Claim:
A universal system component emulator for use in a computing environment having a plurality of components, the emulator comprising: a computer having a memory, the memory storing therein: first means for i) reading one of a plurality of ICD files to configure the emulator accordingly so that the emulator can encode and decode machine data into a human readable format, wherein each ICD file describes how information is encoded in data messages passed between the components of the computing environment and interface requirements between in the computing environment, ii) providing an interface to a user, iii) reading the plurality of ICD files to allow configuration based upon a read ICD file, iv) generating responses to incoming and outgoing messages, v) loading DLL files and vi) executing DLL files; second means for encoding outgoing messages in a machine format; third means for decoding the incoming messages; fourth means for transmitting the outgoing messages to a driver and receiving incoming messages from the driver; fifth means for logging the incoming messages from the fourth means, and logging the outgoing messages from the first means; and sixth means for displaying the incoming and outgoing messages to the user in human readable format.