Patent ID: 7386825

Claim:
A method of presenting a simulated system, said method comprising: with a display device, displaying a respective one of a plurality of design graphical representations for each of a plurality of hierarchically arranged design entity instances within the simulated system, said plurality of design entity instances including a particular design entity instance containing a latch that is represented by a particular design graphical representation; identifying, within a configuration database associated with the system, a configuration entity instance associated with said particular design entity, wherein said configuration entity instance has a plurality of different settings that each reflects a value of the latch; with the display device, presenting, in association with the particular design graphical representation corresponding to the particular design entity instance, a configuration graphical representation of said configuration entity instance; with the display device, presenting a current setting of said configuration entity instance concurrently with the configuration graphical representation; storing within the configuration database at least one data structure defining said configuration entity instance and said association between said configuration entity instance and said particular design entity instance; storing in said at least one data structure a controlling value set for said configuration entity instance, wherein said controlling value set indicates settings affecting presentation of information regarding said configuration entity instance; and in response to a request to present at least a partial state of the simulated system, presenting a state of at least one other configuration entity instance based upon said configuration database and excluding from presentation a current setting of the configuration entity instance by reference to said at least one data structure in said configuration database.