The present invention relates to a system which allows third-party smart
cards to be recognized by computing devices configured to receive smart
cards. According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a
smart card is presented to a computing device. One or more token IDs are
extracted from the smart card. Thereafter, a token type is obtained. In
one embodiment, a probe order file is consulted first when the smart card
is presented to the computing device. The probe order file is configured
to direct a computing device to consult the correct configuration files
in the correct order. Using the probe order file, the device inspects
each configuration file specified in order. The probing is halted after a
configuration file successfully returns a usable identification and card
type. If the probing goes through every configuration file and there is
no match then the smart card cannot be utilized.