We get a lot of questions and emails about airport projects not compiling.  ADE 1.50 and later provides a tool that will tell you when your project is not likely to compile.  It is called the Issue Manager.  A lot of folks don't seem to know it is there so maybe the button needs to be bigger or make more fuss when things are wrong.  When you start ADE without a Project loaded then the Issue Manager is just grey.

However when you load a stock airport or project then it will change color.  It will be Green (as in this picture) if no problems have been identified.  However if it is Red then it means that something has been found that is likely to stop your project from compiling.  The Issue Manager is working all the time in the background so it is being updated as you work and will usually take only a few seconds to show if something has gone wrong.

If ADE detects that there are some errors in the project that are likely to cause the compile to fail then the Issue Manager will turn Red.

The current ADE beta versions will display a tool tip that summarizes the issues found if the cursor is placed over the Issue Manager.  This is not available in the current production version (1.50.4402).

Click the button to get help in resolving the issues.

Click the button to open the Issue Manager dialog

1. The errors will be listed in the left hand pane.  Note that in cases where duplicates have been identified then the error may be listed more than once.  It is generally sufficient to fix one of any multiple errors to see them all fixed.
2. A more detailed description of the issue is displayed below the list when an issue is selected.
3. The Issue Manager will offer to automatically Fix errors if it can.  The Fix button will be active and the box below will describe what will be done.  If you are unsure how to fix something and the Fix button is available then this is usually the simplest way to solve the problem.
4. If an auto fix is not available or you want to fix the issue yourself then then you can use the Quick Edit pane.  This may not be available in situations where no manual fix can be applied.  The Quick Edit property grid will offer you those properties that are causing the problem so that you can manually edit the value(s).  Usually the Issue Manager will tell you as soon as you leave the Quick Edit grid if your fix will work.

A fixed issue will have a green background and a status of Fixed.  Where multiple issues are reported on the same problem (e.g.  a duplicated runway number) then both (or all) of the related issues should show as fixed.

Work down the list of issues until they all show fixed.  

1. At that point (or shortly thereafter) the Issue Manager Button should turn Green again.  Please note that the Issue Manager may be busy or waiting for permission to check what is going on.  So if the button does not turn immediately green then it should be left for up to ten seconds or so to make sure it is up to date with what you are doing.
2. Click the Close Button.

At this point the project should compile.

Please note that we update the Issue Manager as an when new issues arise.  So if you have a compiler error that is not reported then please let us know.

It is also possible in some situations that the Issue Manager will be Red but the airport does compile.  We would also like to know if you get one of those situations so that we can update how it works.