Refactors often touch a lot of parts, and this is a pretty big refactor.
We reduce code deplication, improve errors and logic, and simply task
management.

This commit is also in the fix-encoders test. The reason it wasn't used
it because the mocker framework was being re-done in this commit. So its
just sitting here in both unused. And at this point, modifying
fix-encoder might provoke git to forget about conflicts already
resolved.

This reverts commit 94df9ac.

This reverts commit db76628.