File paths for a plurality of IC design files in a hardware description language are abstracted by parsing description files, or a directory of description file names, to identify file paths to each of the plurality of design files in a first environment. An index is generated correlating each design file and its respective file path.In use, a file path in a second environment of an application is defined for each design file, and the index is applied to the file paths in the second environment to define full file paths for each design file through the first and second environments. The design files are then applied to the application using the full file paths.