A portable distributed application framework that uses a definition file describing a structure of data and commands to be used by the framework to interface with an application. A proxy, responsive to a definition file, creates and receives messages based on the definition file. The created messages contain data and commands used to control the application while the received messages contain data from the application. A control, responsive to the definition file, relays messages between the proxy and the application. A housing, responsive to the definition file and the messages from the proxy, provides the application with configuration information and receives data from the application.