Computer software control and communication system and method

The present invention is a computer system and method for facilitating communication between a primary software program on a computer and at least one secondary software program loaded on a computer circuit card via a communications bus. Both the primary software program and the secondary software program have predefined register storage space for storing data, and in particular, for storing data relating to system and fault status, among other things. The primary software program communicates, direct and controls the data between itself and among the various secondary software programs by interaction between the predefined registers. The primary software program communicates, direct and controls the data through the use of common headers present in the registers.