Patent ID: 7039571

Claim:
A method for programming an operator system interface with a simulator, said method comprising the steps of: providing, as an input to a computing device other than a computing device providing said operator system interface, definitional tables for said operator system interface, wherein said tables define specific governing attributes of said operator system interface; generating an operator system interface simulator program distinct from said operator system interface, wherein, when the simulator program is run on said computing device other than said computing device providing said operator system interface, said simulator program performs display of a representation of the operator system interface defined by the definitional tables input in the providing step and allows a user to select components of the operator system interface, using a pointing device, in order to view information about the selected component on a display device or to effect a change in keysets or menus, thereby modifying said representation of the operator system interface within said simulator program, and modifying said definitional tables to correspond to said modifying of said representation to reprogram said operator system interface on said computing device providing said operator system interface.