Device and method for producing computer readable formatted output

A device for supporting communication with a vehicle having a control unit for controlling at least one particular function of the system, comprising:

• a first interface configured for receiving first information in control unit specific format from the control unit, the first information relating to the at least one particular function;
• a conversion database including conversion data used for converting the first information into second information in computer readable format;
• a converter configured for retrieving conversion data corresponding to the first information from the conversion database to convert the first information into the second information;
• and
• a second interface configured for sending the second information to an external terminal.

A device for supporting communication with a vehicle having a control unit for controlling at least one particular function of the vehicle, comprising:

• a first interface configured for receiving from an external terminal a first request in tag-based markup language format for requesting the control unit to provide specified information to the terminal, and sending to the terminal a first reply in tag-based markup language format including the specified information;
• a second interface configured for sending to the control unit a second request in control unit specific format corresponding to the first request, and receiving from the control unit a second reply in control unit specific format corresponding to the first reply;
• and
• a converter configured for converting the first request into the second request to output the converted request to the second interface, and converting the second reply into the first reply to output the converted reply to the first interface.

A method for communicating with a system having a control unit for controlling at least one particular function of the system, comprising the steps of:

• receiving first information in control unit specific format from the control unit, the first information relating to the at least one particular function;
• converting the first information into second information in tag-based markup language format;
• and
• sending the second information to an external terminal.