Software documentation represents a critical resource to the successfu
l functioning of many enterprises. However, because it is static, docu
mentation often fails to meet the needs of the many diverse users who
are required to consult it on a regular basis in the course of their d
aily work. Software documentation is a rich resource that has not been
fully exploited. Treatment of software documentation presents a numbe
r of interesting problems that require a blend of information retrieva
l and hypertext techniques for their successful solution. The evolving
nature of a software project and the diverse demands on its documenta
tion present an especially challenging environment. This is made even
more challenging by the variety of information resources, ranging from
formal specification languages to source code, that must be integrate
d into a coherent whole for the purpose of querying. In this paper we
discuss work in progress at the University of Virginia. We consider th
e issues involved with automating the management of software documenta
tion to better increase its utility. We describe a prototype system, S
LEUTH, currently under investigation as a vehicle for software documen
tation management. The prototype maintains software documentation as a
hypertext with typed links for the purpose of browsing by users with
varying needs. These links are generated mechanically by the system an
d kept accurate under update. Appropriate authoring tools provide the
system with the information it needs for this maintenance function. Ad
hoc querying is provided over the documentation and hypertext documen
ts are synthesized in response to these queries. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sci
ence Ltd.