A code server operates in a data processing system having an operating system or environment, such as OS/2 or Windows, which processes coded programs in discrete code modules. The code server maintains linkage information between the various code modules forming an association representing all the linkage data for the entire program. This information is gathered by way of searching through the files of the computer network or by direct insertion into the code module information table. Once the associative data has been gathered, a coded program may be retrieved quickly and efficiently without the need for repetitive on-line searching because the user need refer only to the code server which contains a look-up tables storing the data representing the associative information.