Patent 7506305 was granted and assigned to Microsoft on March, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A visual design surface that identifies configuration errors to a user in an inconspicuous manner is disclosed. Shapes representing software artifacts are arranged on the design surface. Each shape may have one or more configuration parameter. The parameters associated with each shape are analyzed to locate configuration errors. When an error is identified, an error icon is placed next to the shape. The user may select the icon and be presented with one or more proposed solutions.