A computer program product for incorporating state machine controls into existing non-state machine environments includes a tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method. The method includes determining a state machine representation for an existing environment, assigning state indicators to each state of the state machine, transcoding existing software flags of the environment into modifier values associated with the state indicators, assigning state values based on the modifier values and the state indicators, assigning event identifiers for transitions from the state values, and creating a tabular representation of the determined state machine, the tabular representation providing next state information based on the event identifiers and the state values.