between appliance 22 and another appliance device or system in the preferred embodiment of the present invention this is accomplished through an animation a scene of which is depicted in fig1 while appliance 22 attempts to establish the ir link an icon that serves as a search metaphor is used in an animation on display 24 to impress upon the user that a search for a device having an ir port is taking place a light emitting diode led 196 emanating waves 198 e g simulation of radar or sonar is the iconic metaphor chosen for the preferred embodiment as shown in fig1 as part of the animation waves 198 are displayed in cumulative fashion beginning with the wave closest to led 196 and moving progressively away from led 196 the shape of the waves is also specifically designed to inform users of the maximum allowable cone angle for the ir port in appliance 22 in the preferred embodiment the ir port has a maximum cone angle of 30 u00b0 once all waves 198 are shown together on display 24 they are cleared from the display and the process repeats while an led and emanating waves are used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention any suitable symbol can be used that is shown to leave users with the impression that appliance 22 is attempting to establish an ir link with another device to facilitate establishment of the ir link status bar 176 is used to inform the user that appliance 22 is searching for the target device furthermore display region 178 can be used to provide instruction such as prompting the user to point appliance 22 toward the ir port.