Abstract: The invention described in this patent is a motion control system hierarchy where all the components are connected by a two way communication link, which gives the system an ability to transfer data from all levels of the hierarchy up to a PC to be viewed and/or modified. Further, the user interface to the motion control system hierarchy is a ubiquitous web browser obviating the need for additional software installation on the PC. By interfacing through a web browser and adding a embedded web server to the motion controller, the communication protocol is fixed but the format of the communication remains flexible. The invention also uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) as a means for keeping the interface between the PC and the motion controller as flexible as possible. Among the uses of XML in this invention are as a tool for configuration, data sharing, and for remote procedure calls.