I have a
(PIC-based) chip tester that has a "discovery" feature, so
you can drop in a '00 or '02 or '14 or '74, etc., etc, and press
"test"
and it will stop on the first part that passes (that it recognizes).
I don't know if it handles any parts that happen to have those
internal connections on the middle pins, though.
Can you give more info about this tester? ;o)
No idea what kind of tester he has, but at least the old ALL-02 can do
exactly this kind of thing. You can even write own testing patterns for
chips unknown to the software (I did so).