Difference between revisions of "File Formats"

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Bible Study programs use various file formats.
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This page lists some of the more common file formats ''relevant'' to The SWORD Project, associated utilities, and other CrossWire projects.
  
The Sword Project respects [[copyright]], and other Intellectual property Rights.  As such, conversion of material that is under copyright is not supported by The Sword Project.
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CrossWire Bible Society respects [[copyright]].  As such, conversion of material that is under copyright without permission from the copyright holders is not supported by The SWORD Project.
  
==Bible Study Programs==
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== SWORD modules ==
 +
Other than the source code for the SWORD API, there is no documentation for the file format of a '''SWORD module'''. The intention is that the [[DevTools:SWORD|SWORD API]] (or the [[DevTools:JSword|JSword]] implementation) is used directly or via other language bindings.
  
===Bible Works===
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Our module file format is proprietary in the sense that we see no need to document it and certainly no need to stick to it. We change it when we need to. We therefore do not encourage direct interaction with it, but firmly recommend use of the API (either C++ or Java). This is the place where we seek stability and consistency.
This is a commercial product.  The software contains a EULA that prohibits reverse engineering its file format.  All material that uses this file format is protected by Copyright.  As such it is both illegal, and immoral to convert it to a format that The Sword Project uses.
 
  
=== e-Sword===
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The SWORD Project supports currently and actively the following markup for module creation: OSIS, [https://tei-c.org/ TEI], ThML and plain text.
This program is distributed gratis. Most of the resources for this program are protected by copyright. As such, conversion into a format that The Sword Project is discouraged byCrossWire.  There are no tools that directly convert the file format used by this program to one used by The Sword Project.
 
  
===Libronix Digital Library System===
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==The SWORD Project Utilities==
This is a commercial product. The contains a EULA that prohibits reverse engineering its file format. All material that uses this file format is protected by Copyright. As such it is both illegal, and immoral to convert it to a format that The Sword Project uses.
+
Precompiled versions of many of these programs are available in most '''Linux''' distributions, using the distribution's package installer.<BR>For '''Windows''', they can be found [https://github.com/devroles/mingw_sword_package here].<ref>If you have '''Xiphos''' installed in Windows, the Sword utilities are available in the Xiphos\bin folder.</ref><ref>The latest binaries may be found [https://github.com/devroles/mingw_sword_package/releases/tag/1.9.0a here], though currently without cipherraw.exe</ref>
  
===Zefania===
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===Module Creation Tools===
This is a FLOSS Bible Study Program. Some of the resources available for this program are under copyright. The conversion of those resources to The Sword Project is discouraged.  
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It is recommended that Unicode text files used for module creation be [[Encoding|encoded]] as UTF-8.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newline EOLs] should be either Unix style (LF) or Windows style (CRLF). Text files with Mac style EOLs (CR) may give rise to errors or other unexpected behaviour.</ref>
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* imp2gbs &ndash; imports free-form General books in IMP format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
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* imp2ld &ndash; imports lexicons, dictionaries, and daily devotionals in IMP format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* imp2vs &ndash; imports Bibles and commentaries in IMP format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* vpl2mod &ndash; imports Bibles and commentaries in Verse-Per-Line format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* [[osis2mod]] &ndash; imports Bibles and commentaries in OSIS format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* tei2mod &ndash; imports lexicons, dictionaries in TEI format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* xml2gbs &ndash; imports free-form General books in OSIS or ThML format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
  
==File Formats==
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===Diagnostic Tools===
 +
* mod2imp &ndash; creates an IMP file<ref>The IMP file may contain a residue of XML markup</ref> from an installed module [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* emptyvss &ndash; exports a list of verses missing from the module (useful for testing modules during development) [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
  
===OSIS===
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===Legacy format conversion Tools===
 +
* gbf2osis.pl &ndash; a PERL utility for converting GBF to OSIS [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/perl/gbf2osis.pl &dagger;]
 +
* step2vpl &ndash; export a STEP book in Verse-Per-Line (VPL) format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* [[DevTools:Misc#thml2osis|thml2osis]] - converts ThML to OSIS format.
  
===STML===
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===OSIS Utilities===
 +
* vs2osisref &ndash; returns the osisRef of a given (text form) verse reference [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* xml2gbs &ndash; imports free-form General books in OSIS or ThML format to SWORD format [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
  
===ThML===
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===Miscellaneous===
 +
* cipherraw &ndash; used to encipher SWORD modules [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* [[Frontends:Diatheke|diatheke]] &ndash; a basic CLI SWORD front-end [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* [[mkfastmod]] &ndash; creates a search index for a module<ref>Aside: To create a list of installed modules with descriptions, enter the following command, optionally redirecting stderr to a log file.<pre>mkfastmod /? 2>mkfastmod.log</pre></ref> [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
* [[mod2zmod]] &ndash; creates a compressed module from an installed module [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 &dagger;]
 +
==== Notes on SWORD Tools ====
  
===XML===
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<references />
  
===Zefania XML===
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===Recommended Non-SWORD Utilities===
This is the native file format for Zefania.  There are several tools that will convert material into this file format.
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* uconv &ndash; a utility from [http://icu-project.org/ ICU] for converting between various character encodings, perform normalization, transliterate texts, etc. (It's similar to iconv, but much, much more powerful.) uconv.exe is part of the [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 sword utilities]
 +
* xmllint &ndash; a utility (part of the [http://xmlsoft.org/ libxml2] distribution) for validating XML documents [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/win32 *]
  
==Utility Programs==
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==Formats for which CrossWire maintains converters==
 +
The SWORD Project uses primary source e-texts. These texts come in numerous formats. CrossWire maintains converters for a number of formats, described below. The converters may target other markup formats, e.g. TEI or OSIS, or may simply export binary data to text, as is the case with our STEP exporter. Specific discussion of each of the available converters is found elsewhere on this page.
  
===Zefania TextConvertor===
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===USFM===
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[http://paratext.org/usfm ''Unified Standard Format Markers'']
  
This program converts resources into Zefania XML.
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This plain-text format is a common internal-use format within Bible translation agencies and Bible societies. It is the native format of [http://paratext.org/ ParaTExt]. Paratext is used by more than 60% of all Bible translators world-wide. The current release is [https://pt8.paratext.org/ ParaTExt 8.0].
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Though '''USFM 2.4''' suffices for most Bibles, [https://ubsicap.github.io/usfm/ USFM 3.0] is now available and has several new features. The standard is open source and is maintained at [https://github.com/ubsicap/usfm ubsicap/usfm].
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CrossWire now has a Python script called usfm2osis.py<ref>This replaces our earlier Perl script [http://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/utils/perl/usfm2osis.pl usfm2osis.pl].</ref> which converts USFM to OSIS for subsequent import to SWORD's native format. See [[Converting SFM Bibles to OSIS]].
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 +
USFM uses a separate file for each Bible book. USFM is also supported by the open-source program called [http://bibledit.org/ Bibledit]. There are examples of Bibles in USFM format available for download at [http://ebible.org/]. These include the [http://ebible.org/bible/kjv/kjvsf.zip KJV], [http://ebible.org/bible/asv/asvsf.zip ASV], and [http://ebible.org/bible/web/websf.zip WEB] Bibles.
 +
 
 +
USFM is one of the formats that can be used by [[Projects:Go Bible/Go Bible Creator|Go Bible Creator]].
 +
 
 +
'''Note:'''
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<references />
 +
 
 +
==Other Utilities==
 +
These are not part of The SWORD Project, but may be useful. A link is given for each.
 +
 
 +
===Go Bible utilities===
 +
* [[Projects:Go Bible/Go Bible Creator|Go Bible Creator]] - a Java SE program for converting either ThML or OSIS or USFM to [[Projects:Go Bible|Go Bible]]. It is being enhanced by SIL to be capable of converting source text in [[File Formats#XHTML|XHTML-TE]] format.
 +
 
 +
* [http://gbcpreprocessor.codeplex.com/ Go Bible Creator USFM Preprocessor] &ndash; This is a tool to parse through and identify, correct and publish USFM file formats into a file format that can easily be put into the Go Bible mobile phone program.
 +
 
 +
===ThML Utilities===
 +
* CCEL Desktop - a program for viewing and developing CCEL books [http://ccel-desktop.sourceforge.net/]
 +
 
 +
== See also ==
 +
* [[DevTools:IMP Format|IMP Format]] &ndash; general import format used for various module types
 +
* [[DevTools:GBF|General Bible Format (GBF)]] &ndash; legacy format now deprecated
 +
* [[DevTools:ThML|Theological Markup Language (ThML)]] &ndash; legacy format now deprecated
 +
* [[Frontends:Bookmarks Standard]]
 +
* [[File Formats Cruft]]
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Development tools]]
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[[Category:File formats]]
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[[Category:OSIS]]
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[[Category:ThML]]
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[[Category:Utilities]]
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[[Category:USFM]]
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[[Category:Unicode]]
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[[Category:Bibledit]]
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[[Category:Paratext]]

Latest revision as of 12:11, 20 February 2021

This page lists some of the more common file formats relevant to The SWORD Project, associated utilities, and other CrossWire projects.

CrossWire Bible Society respects copyright. As such, conversion of material that is under copyright without permission from the copyright holders is not supported by The SWORD Project.

SWORD modules

Other than the source code for the SWORD API, there is no documentation for the file format of a SWORD module. The intention is that the SWORD API (or the JSword implementation) is used directly or via other language bindings.

Our module file format is proprietary in the sense that we see no need to document it and certainly no need to stick to it. We change it when we need to. We therefore do not encourage direct interaction with it, but firmly recommend use of the API (either C++ or Java). This is the place where we seek stability and consistency.

The SWORD Project supports currently and actively the following markup for module creation: OSIS, TEI, ThML and plain text.

The SWORD Project Utilities

Precompiled versions of many of these programs are available in most Linux distributions, using the distribution's package installer.
For Windows, they can be found here.[1][2]

Module Creation Tools

It is recommended that Unicode text files used for module creation be encoded as UTF-8.[3]

  • imp2gbs – imports free-form General books in IMP format to SWORD format
  • imp2ld – imports lexicons, dictionaries, and daily devotionals in IMP format to SWORD format
  • imp2vs – imports Bibles and commentaries in IMP format to SWORD format
  • vpl2mod – imports Bibles and commentaries in Verse-Per-Line format to SWORD format
  • osis2mod – imports Bibles and commentaries in OSIS format to SWORD format
  • tei2mod – imports lexicons, dictionaries in TEI format to SWORD format
  • xml2gbs – imports free-form General books in OSIS or ThML format to SWORD format

Diagnostic Tools

  • mod2imp – creates an IMP file[4] from an installed module
  • emptyvss – exports a list of verses missing from the module (useful for testing modules during development)

Legacy format conversion Tools

  • gbf2osis.pl – a PERL utility for converting GBF to OSIS
  • step2vpl – export a STEP book in Verse-Per-Line (VPL) format
  • thml2osis - converts ThML to OSIS format.

OSIS Utilities

  • vs2osisref – returns the osisRef of a given (text form) verse reference
  • xml2gbs – imports free-form General books in OSIS or ThML format to SWORD format

Miscellaneous

  • cipherraw – used to encipher SWORD modules
  • diatheke – a basic CLI SWORD front-end
  • mkfastmod – creates a search index for a module[5]
  • mod2zmod – creates a compressed module from an installed module

Notes on SWORD Tools

  1. If you have Xiphos installed in Windows, the Sword utilities are available in the Xiphos\bin folder.
  2. The latest binaries may be found here, though currently without cipherraw.exe
  3. EOLs should be either Unix style (LF) or Windows style (CRLF). Text files with Mac style EOLs (CR) may give rise to errors or other unexpected behaviour.
  4. The IMP file may contain a residue of XML markup
  5. Aside: To create a list of installed modules with descriptions, enter the following command, optionally redirecting stderr to a log file.
    mkfastmod /? 2>mkfastmod.log

Recommended Non-SWORD Utilities

  • uconv – a utility from ICU for converting between various character encodings, perform normalization, transliterate texts, etc. (It's similar to iconv, but much, much more powerful.) uconv.exe is part of the sword utilities
  • xmllint – a utility (part of the libxml2 distribution) for validating XML documents *

Formats for which CrossWire maintains converters

The SWORD Project uses primary source e-texts. These texts come in numerous formats. CrossWire maintains converters for a number of formats, described below. The converters may target other markup formats, e.g. TEI or OSIS, or may simply export binary data to text, as is the case with our STEP exporter. Specific discussion of each of the available converters is found elsewhere on this page.

USFM

Unified Standard Format Markers

This plain-text format is a common internal-use format within Bible translation agencies and Bible societies. It is the native format of ParaTExt. Paratext is used by more than 60% of all Bible translators world-wide. The current release is ParaTExt 8.0.

Though USFM 2.4 suffices for most Bibles, USFM 3.0 is now available and has several new features. The standard is open source and is maintained at ubsicap/usfm.

CrossWire now has a Python script called usfm2osis.py[1] which converts USFM to OSIS for subsequent import to SWORD's native format. See Converting SFM Bibles to OSIS.

USFM uses a separate file for each Bible book. USFM is also supported by the open-source program called Bibledit. There are examples of Bibles in USFM format available for download at [1]. These include the KJV, ASV, and WEB Bibles.

USFM is one of the formats that can be used by Go Bible Creator.

Note:

  1. This replaces our earlier Perl script usfm2osis.pl.

Other Utilities

These are not part of The SWORD Project, but may be useful. A link is given for each.

Go Bible utilities

  • Go Bible Creator - a Java SE program for converting either ThML or OSIS or USFM to Go Bible. It is being enhanced by SIL to be capable of converting source text in XHTML-TE format.
  • Go Bible Creator USFM Preprocessor – This is a tool to parse through and identify, correct and publish USFM file formats into a file format that can easily be put into the Go Bible mobile phone program.

ThML Utilities

  • CCEL Desktop - a program for viewing and developing CCEL books [2]

See also