General computerized control and data-handling support for TFTR diagnostics is presented within the context of the Central Instrumentation, Control and Data Acquisition (CICADA) System. Procedures, hardware, the interactive man–machine interface, event-driven task scheduling, system-wide arming and data acquisition, and a hierarchical data base of raw data and results are described. Similarities in data structures involved in control, monitoring, and data acquisition afford a simplification of the system functions, based on ‘‘groups’’ of devices. Emphases and optimizations appropriate for fusion diagnostic system designs are provided. An off-line data reduction computer system is under development.