Abstract: A system for in-circuit testing of an electronic circuit device utilizes a distributed processing architecture wherein separate controllers are used to control the testing and for data collection and correlation of the collected data to the testing conditons. In a preferred embodiment, the testing is conducted by sending test vector addresses from the test controller to each of the driver/sensor boards in the testor electronics, which addresses, in turn, are used to access driver memories containing the test conditions corresponding to the test vector addresses. In the method of the present invention, the circuit containing the device is powered up and a tester coupling mechanism is connected to the terminals of the device. Determinations are made of the physical orientation of the device with respect to the tester coupling mechanism, and of whether the device terminals are in electrical contact with the tester mechanism and with the other components of the circuit.