The invention relates to an automatic documentation tool and associated method. The method includes embedding comments into a plurality of source files defining the design, creating a configuration file including parameters associated with each source file, and extracting the comments from each source file responsive to the parameters. The method is capable of operating on a plurality of source files originating from a plurality of design tools. The method is capable of sorting through keywords preceding each comment and ordering the comments according to a user's request. The method is capable of receiving register definitions from a header file.