Distributed data model

1. A method of transferring data from a host to a protocol emulator, the method comprising: preparing a description of the structure of the data; providing the description of the data to the host and the protocol emulator; creating, during runtime, a reference model of the data structure using the description of the data on each of the host and the protocol emulator, wherein creating the reference model comprises creating a node for each element of the data and indexing the nodes of the reference model; as requested, creating an instance of the reference model with the data on the host; serializing the data in the instance, wherein serializing the data in the instance comprises forming a binary file in which the data is ordered in a linear manner based upon the index of the node from which each element of data was taken; transferring the serialized data from the host to the protocol emulator; and creating an instance of the data on the protocol emulator based on the reference model, wherein the serialized data includes at least one command for creating a protocol emulation session.

2. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises creating an XML file that describes the structure of data.

3. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the description of the structure of the data includes calls to external processes.

4. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the description of the structure of the data includes values that are based on other values within the data structure.

5. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data in a hierarchical manner.

6. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data using tables.

7. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data in a hierarchical manner and using tables.

8. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data using defined elements comprising at least one selected for the set consisting of: value, array, set, table, and keyed table.

9. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises defining elements for holding values or other elements and attributes of the elements.

10. The method, as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the attributes include a descriptive name of the element, a description of the element, a length of the element, a presentation format of the element, and a range of possible values for the element.

11. The method, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of serializing the data comprises creating an XML file.

12. A method of communicating between a host and a protocol emulator, the method comprising: preparing a description of a structure of data required to control the protocol emulator; providing the description of the data to a host and the protocol emulator; creating, during run time, a reference model of the data structure using the description of the data on each of the host and the protocol emulator, wherein creating the reference model comprises creating a node for each element of the data and indexing the nodes of the reference model; as requested, creating an instance of the reference model with the data on the host; serializing the data in the instance, wherein serializing the data in the instance comprises forming a binary file in which the data is ordered in a linear manner based upon the index of the node from which each element of data was taken; transferring the serialized data from the host to the protocol emulator; and creating an instance of the data on the protocol emulator based on the reference model, wherein the serialized data includes at least one command for creating a protocol emulation session.

13. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises creating an XML file that describes the structure of the data.

14. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the description of the structure of the data includes calls to external processes.

15. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the description of the structure of the data includes values that are based on other values within the data structure.

16. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data in a hierarchical manner.

17. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data using tables.

18. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data in a hierarchical manner and using tables.

19. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises describing the data using defined elements comprising at least one selected for the set consisting of: value, array, set, table, and keyed table.

20. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of preparing a description of the structure of the data comprises defining elements for holding values or other elements and attributes of the elements.

21. The method, as set forth in claim 20 , wherein the attributes include a descriptive name of the element, a description of the element, a length of the element, a presentation format of the element, and a range of possible values for the element.

22. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the step of serializing the data comprises creating an XML file.

23. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , further comprising: as requested, creating an instance of the reference model with a second set of data on the protocol emulator; serializing the second set of data in the instance; transferring the serialized second set of data from the protocol emulator to the host; and creating an instance of the second set of data on the host based on the reference model.

24. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the data comprises at least one of commands; session data; and topology.

25. The method, as set forth in claim 23 , wherein the second set of data comprises at least one of statistics; topology; and message trace.

26. The method, as set forth in claim 12 , the step of creating comprises: creating a plurality of instances of the reference model with the data on the host, wherein each instance varies based on instructions provided by a user.

27. A system for transferring data from a physical host to a protocol emulator, the system comprising: a physical host including a description of a structure of a set of data; software operable on the physical host that creates, during run time, a reference model of the data structure using the description of the data on each of the physical host and the protocol emulator, wherein creating the reference model comprises creating a node for each element of the data and indexing the nodes of the reference model, and, as requested, creates an instance of the reference model populated with a set of data; communication software operable on the physical host that serializes and transmits the set of data in the instance, wherein serializing the data in the instance comprises forming a binary file in which the data is ordered in a linear manner based upon the index of the node from which each element of data was taken; and a server that receives the serialized set of data and creates an instance of the set of data on the protocol emulator based on the reference model, wherein the serialized data includes at least one command for creating a protocol emulation session.

28. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the server is provided with the description of the structure of the data and creates a copy of the reference model using the description.

29. The system, as set forth in claim 28 , wherein the physical host provides the server with the description upon startup.

30. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the server comprises a protocol emulator and the data comprises commands, session data, and topology information.

31. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , further comprising: software operable on the server that creates a second reference model of a second data structure using the description of the structure of the second data structure and as requested, creates an instance of the second reference model populated with a second set of data; and communication software operable on the server computer that serializes the second set of data in the instance and transmits the serialized data to the physical host.

32. The system, as set forth in claim 29 , wherein the server comprises a protocol emulator and the second set of data comprises at least one of statistics; topology; and message trace.

33. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the software instantiates the reference model a plurality of times to create a plurality of objects.

34. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , wherein each object varies from other objects in a defined manner.

35. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , further comprising: an application programming interface for interfacing with the software in a manner independent of the data.

36. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , further comprising: a graphics user interface that dynamically constructs an interface based on the reference model.

37. The system, as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the reference model includes attributes describing the data.

38. The system, as set forth in claim 37 , further comprising: a graphics user interface that dynamically constructs an interface for displaying data in the instance of the reference model based on the attributes contained in the reference model.