Difference between revisions of "Choosing a SWORD program"
(Updated for FireBible 1.1) |
|||
Line 60: | Line 60: | ||
| '''Runs on Windows 95/98/NT/ME''' | | '''Runs on Windows 95/98/NT/ME''' | ||
<!--ABS !! BD !! BT !! BPB !! FB !! MS !! MS2 !! SPW !! SB !! Xi --> | <!--ABS !! BD !! BT !! BPB !! FB !! MS !! MS2 !! SPW !! SB !! Xi --> | ||
− | ! !! {{yes}} !! !! {{no}}<ref>Not Win9x</ref>!! !! {{no}} !! {{no}} !! {{yes}} !! !! {{no}} | + | ! !! {{yes}} !! !! {{no}}<ref>Not Win9x</ref>!!{{no}} !! {{no}} !! {{no}} !! {{yes}} !! !! {{no}} |
|-valign="top"{{ | |-valign="top"{{ | ||
| '''Runs on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7''' | | '''Runs on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7''' |
Revision as of 13:16, 24 October 2009
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Features Common to All SWORD Front-end Applications
- 3 Side-by-Side Comparison of Notable SWORD Front-end Applications
Introduction
This page needs to be maintained to give fair coverage of the SWORD front-end programs.
Do feel free to edit this page to make it more complete and better organized.
The purpose of this page is to help an end user decide which SWORD front-end program is the best for them. The first consideration is which programs are available for the user. This can be found at CrossWire's home page. Once the user has narrowed down which programs are available, the following can be used to focus on the best program.
It is recommended that each user try all the available programs. It is likely that one will resonate with the user and work best for that user.
As this page is oriented to program features, it does not distinguish whether the underlying engine is SWORD or JSword.
Some applications have a different CrossWire development code name than the public name.
Features Common to All SWORD Front-end Applications
For the most part all the SWORD Front-end programs have the same features.
- Uses Unicode
- Released under an open source license
- Powerful search syntax - wildcard, regex and often also clucene indexed searches (fuzzy and proximity searches + searches for Strong's, stemming etc) within preset and customized scopes.
- Strong's, morphological info, cross references and footnotes
- All front-ends listed below are undergoing more or less active development.
- Verse and block layout
- Image support in all types of modules
- Localisation - all front-ends are designed to be readily translatable. Many are translated in various languages.
Side-by-Side Comparison of Notable SWORD Front-end Applications
- This is a work in progress.
Legends
To keep the lists below compact, the SWORD programs are identified by abbreviations. Here is an explanation of each of them:
- ABS — Alkitab Bible Study based on JSword, uses Java 5+
- BD — BibleDesktop based on JSword, uses Java 1.4.2+
- BT — BibleTime uses cross-platform Qt toolkit
- BPB — BPBible uses wxPython
- FB — FireBible based on JSword, runs in FireFox as an extension
- MS — MacSword series 1
- MS2 — MacSword 2.0 released 2009-10-12
- SPW — The SWORD Project for Windows
- SB — SwordBible
- Xi — Xiphos (formerly GnomeSword)
- A blank entry means that it is unknown whether a feature is present. Footnotes are automatically numbered.
Operating Systems and Portability
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runs on Windows 95/98/NT/ME | yes | no[1] | no | no | no | yes | no | |||
Runs on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 | yes | yes | partial[2] | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
Runs on Mac OS X 10.3+ | yes | no | yes | yes[3] | no | no | no | no | ||
Runs on Mac OS X 10.4+ | yes | yes | partial[2] | no | yes | yes[4] | no | no | no | no |
Runs on Mac OS X 10.5+ | yes | partial[2] | no | yes | yes[4] | yes | no | no | no | |
Runs on Linux | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | yes |
Runs on other Unix | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes | yes[5] |
Can be installed to run from USB drive | no | yes[6] | no | yes[7] | yes[8] | yes[9] | yes[9] | yes[10] | no | no |
- ↑ Not Win9x
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pre-alpha
- ↑ Version 1.3.x
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Version 1.4.x
- ↑ BSD. Solaris cannot be supported at this time because its library support is crippled with respect to the required build tools.
- ↑ Portable both in the sense that it can be carried in ones pocket and in the sense that it runs on Windows, Mac or Linux, requiring nothing from the host computer and leaving no trace on it.
- ↑ PortableApps.com edition for Windows only. Leaves no trace on host computer.
- ↑ Using Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition from PortableApps.com, for Windows only, but depends on a local installation of Java. Leaves no trace on host computer. Other platforms are possible.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Leaves traces on host computer.
- ↑ Temporarily install to a computer and then copy the "C:\Program Files\CrossWire\The SWORD Project" folder to the USB drive. Finally, uninstall it and delete install directory. Leaves no traces on host computer.
Module Support
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Daily Devotions Start with Today | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | ||
Daily Devotions Show Friendly Dates[1] | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | ||
Shows Testament Introductions | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | |||
Shows Book Introductions | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | no | yes | no | yes |
Shows Chapter Introductions | no | no | yes | no | yes | no | yes | no | yes | |
Personal Commentary | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | no | yes[2] |
Journal | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes[2] |
Right to Left Texts[3] | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Complex Scripts[4] | partial[5] | yes[6] | partial[5] | yes[7] | ||||||
Footnote expansion | yes | yes | yes | yes | partial[8] | yes |
- ↑ Dates use locale appropriate date representation. Month names if used are localized, too.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Exportable as a SWORD module
- ↑ Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew and other modules Right-to-Left scripts are displayed from right-to-left and correctly shaped.
- ↑ The application can display correctly Brahmic, Indic, and related scripts (or other scripts of similar layout) - subject to availability of adequate fonts and standardized Unicode
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 To the extent that Uniscribe supports a given script
- ↑ To the extent that Firefox supports a given script
- ↑ With pango-graphite installed
- ↑ Notes appear in popup. Extremely long notes may appear truncated in the popup.
Module Management
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Integrated module manager | yes[1] | yes | yes | partial[2] | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Module unlocking support[3] | yes[1] | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | |
Multiple download repositories[4] | yes[1] | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes[5] |
Local Repositories (e.g. CrossWire CD) | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Use of Proxy configurable | yes | no | n/a | yes | no | no | no | no | n/a | |
Downloaded modules are available immediately without restart | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes |
User is warned of internet access | yes[1] | yes | yes | n/a | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
User is advised about download size | yes[1] | yes | no | n/a | yes | no | no | no | no | yes[6] |
User can continue working while download is in progress | yes | yes | n/a | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Download can be canceled | yes[1] | yes | yes | n/a | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | partial |
User is warned if module already exists. | yes[1] | yes | no | no | yes [7] | yes [7] | yes [7] | |||
User is notified of module updates | no | yes | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | ||
User is notified of new modules | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | ||
Hiding/Showing installed modules[8] | no | no | yes | no | no | yes[9] | no | yes | no | yes |
Modules sorted by type | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Modules are further sorted by language | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | no | yes |
Modules can be archived/exported[10] | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Companion Module support | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 via plugins
- ↑ Zip installer for locally available modules only
- ↑ The application allows the user to supply the unlock key. The user does not have to manually edit the module's conf file.
- ↑ Integrated installer allows download from more than one SWORD module repository.
- ↑ Xiphos supports automatic repository discovery, using the standard set maintained at CrossWire
- ↑ Xiphos will extract info from repository if provided
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Installed modules are highlighted
- ↑ This refers to the ability to select which of the installed modules are listed for selection, without having to uninstall any modules.
- ↑ Modules can be sorted for installed/uninstalled
- ↑ Packages a module into SWORD's shareable "Raw Zip" format.
Image Module Support
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Image Resizing | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
JPEG format[1] | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||
PNG format | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no[2] | yes | |
SVG format | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
- ↑ All full-featured SWORD applications should already have support for this types.
- ↑ PNG support will be available in 1.5.12 upwards
Module Information
Some front-ends can display the complete information from the module's conf file. Others can display hardly anything at all of this information. Please use this section to record what each program can display for module information, and how this is accessed.
Windowing and Text Display
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Window Layout flexible | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | ||
Un/Linkable[1] | yes | yes | yes | n/a | no | yes[2] | yes | |||
Parallel Display[3] | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Multiple texts | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||
Poetry Layout | yes | yes | yes | yes [4] | yes | no | no | yes[5] | yes [6] | |
Module default font[7] | yes | yes | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | ||
Font settable per module | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | |
Font settable per language | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | ||
Transliteration | no | no | no[8] | no | yes | no | yes |
- ↑ Open text panes can by user choice be linked or unlinked and will then move together to the next reference or stay at different references
- ↑ Only linked at the moment
- ↑ Several bible +/-commentary texts can be displayed in a set of parallel columns
- ↑ 2 level indentation
- ↑ Not indented
- ↑ 1 level indentation
- ↑ Used if the font is installed
- ↑ This is available if compiled with ICU.
Search and Dictionary
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Able to create a search index | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes[1] | yes | yes [2] | yes | no | yes |
Able to delete a search index | yes[3] | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | n/a | yes | yes |
User can continue to use application while index is being created | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||||
Indexed Search | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
Cross Verse Proximity Search | yes | yes | yes[4] | yes | no | no | yes | no | yes | |
Indexed Strong, Morphology and Body search | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
Indexed CrossRef search | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | |
Indexed Note and Heading search | yes | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | |
Fuzzy search[5] | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | |
GenBook and Commentary search | partial[6] | yes | yes | partial[6] | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Combined module search | no | yes | no | no | no | yes | no | no | yes[7] | |
Search scopes[8] | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Result highlighting[9] | yes[10] | yes | yes | yes | ||||||
Automatic/On-Mouse Strongs/Morphology lookup | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Automatic/On-Mouse Glossary lookup | no | no | no | yes [11] | yes | yes | yes |
- ↑ Automatically created searching a module first time
- ↑ Index can also be created automatically for all installed modules if enabled.
- ↑ Through plugins
- ↑ Allowing phrases across verse boundaries
- ↑ Finds words based upon approximation.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Commentaries when treated as Bibles
- ↑ Creation of lists of modules to be searched together
- ↑ Limit search to one or more passages or books
- ↑ Search term(s) highlighted in results
- ↑ With results in view, use Highlight all in Firefox Find (for the same search term)
- ↑ Via context menu
Bookmarking, Tagging, Listing and Notes
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bookmarks, Verselists or Tags | yes | yes | yes | yes[1] | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Manual adding | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Bulk adding of Search result | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | |||||
Permanent | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Hierarchical | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | |
Drag and drop management | n/a | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | n/a | yes | |
Exportable | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | ||||
User comments | no | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | |||
Study Notes | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
- ↑ Utilizes FF bookmarking system
Session and State Management
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Layout stored | yes | partial[1] | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||
Interface language | yes | yes | n/a | yes [2] | yes [2] | n/a[3] | ||||
Open Modules | yes | no | yes | yes | partial [4] | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
Search Results | partial[5] | yes [6] | no | partial [7] | yes | |||||
Storing of multiple Sessions | no | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
- ↑ Size and location of windows only
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Selected from locale setting
- ↑ Selected from locale setting, but changing environment variables LANG and LC_ALL will select another, e.g., shell command to select Hebrew interface: LANG=he LC_ALL=he_IL xiphos
- ↑ Open tabs can be saved as a bookmark group and/or Firefox can automatically save session on exit. Limited to content viewed in primary browser area, not in the sidebar.
- ↑ User can store the results of a search as a verse list
- ↑ Resulting URL can be bookmarked
- ↑ Not result but search query is stored
Help System
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manual, English | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | no | yes | yes | ||
Manual, Other | yes | no | no | no | yes[1] | |||||
Active links to online help | yes | yes | no | yes[2] | ||||||
Tooltips | yes | yes | yes | yes | partial | partial | yes |
Localization
Only languages with at least 70% of the user interface translated are listed.
The following languages are present in more than one SWORD application.
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GUI RtoL Support[1] | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | no | yes | |
Localized verse/chapter numbers[2] | yes | yes | no | no | yes | |||||
English | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
中文 (Chinese, Traditional and Simplified) | no | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
Deutsch (German) | no | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | no | yes | no | yes |
Português (Portuguese) | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | no | yes | no | yes |
Suomi (Finnish) | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | no | yes | no | yes |
فارسی (Persian) | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese) | no | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no |
Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
Français (French) | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
Česky (Czech) | no | no | yes | no | no | no | no | yes | no | yes |
Magyar (Hungarian) | no | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
Español (Spanish) | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | no | no | no | no |
Polski (Polish) | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | yes | no | no |
Svenska (Swedish) | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
- ↑ Layout flips from Left-to-Right layout to Right-to-Left based on user's locale.
- ↑ Numbering will use localized script for numbers
The following languages are present in only one SWORD application.
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dansk (Danish) | no | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
Afrikaans | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
日本語 (Japanese) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
Slovenščina (Slovenian) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
עברית (Hebrew) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Norsk (Norwegian) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Nederlands (Dutch) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Cymraeg (Welsh) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Русский (Russian) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Slovenčina (Slovak) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
Use this section to document whether the front-end has any menu options for printing a selection from a module. If so, what restrictions exist as to how much text can be printed in one operation.
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Menu has a print option | no | no | no | n/a[1] | yes | yes[2] |
Other
Feature | ABS | BD | BT | BPB | FB | MS | MS2 | SPW | SB | Xi |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Extramodular Bible Reading Plan | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | |
Other extramodular content | no | no | yes[1] | yes [2] | no | no | no | no | yes [3] | no |
Read aloud | no | partial[4] | no | no | yes | yes | no | no | yes | |
Other features not listed otherwise | yes[5] | yes[6] | yes[7] | yes[8] |
- ↑ Bible Study HOWTO
- ↑ Gospel Harmonies, Guess the Verse game
- ↑ Topical verse lists
- ↑ On MacOS 10.3+ only
- ↑ Display Strong's headwords, configurable export passage to clipboard
- ↑ Integrates with Ubiquity
- ↑ Full screen view; floating, transparent preview window; tabbed panes detachable to seperate window; automatic software download and update
- ↑ Pseudo-interlinear display of Strong's/morphology; tabbed interface for multiple Bible/commentary/dictionary study; detached windows for any module; commentary by chapter; lexdict mouse-hover content-to-previewer; tab-able or detached full-chapter parallel window; passage exporter; selectable previewer position; image content display selectivity; double-space text; per-tab subwindow visibility; high-contrast highlight of current verse; external image viewer on click; geography interface through BibleMap.org; yellow-highlighter (metaphor) per-verse personal annotations.