Abstract: An in-storage table pair structure is disclosed which extends to the user of the data processing system the internal structures of a component of the operating system. The table pair structure includes pairs of tables that are pointed to by a table pair pointer. A table pair pointer is a double word of virtual storage in which the first word is the address of a user-defined table and the second word is the address of a developer-supplied table. Both tables form a table pair. The table pairs permit functional routines (IETDFs) to reference data in both developer-supplied tables as well as user-defined tables in order to tailor a component of the operating system. The IETDF locates a particular table, or set of tables, by first referencing a global control block which contains addresses of two router control blocks.