Patent ID: 6859930

Claim:
A system ( 100 ) for performing service operations on a machine ( 102 , 302 ), comprising: a first computer based service tool ( 104 A); a second computer based service tool ( 104 B); a computer based workbench ( 106 , 306 ) having first and second application proxies ( 112 A, 112 B), said first and second application proxies ( 112 A, 112 B) each having a constant portion ( 114 A, 114 B) respectively and a binary network object ( 108 ) with first and second interfaces ( 110 A, 110 B), coupled to said first and second application proxies the first application proxy ( 112 A) being coupled to the first computer based service tool ( 104 A) the second application proxy ( 112 B) being coupled to the second computer based service tool ( 104 B), wherein the first computer based service tool ( 104 A) has access to service information in the second computer based service tool ( 104 B) through the respective constant portions ( 114 A, 114 B) in the computer based workbench ( 106 ) wherein the first computer based service tool ( 104 A) provides diagnostic services that determine a status of the machine ( 102 ), or a portion thereof.