Choosing a SWORD program

Introduction

This page is under development. As such it may not be helpful until it is near completion. For that reason, please don't link it on another page until then. To become complete it needs fair and balanced™ coverage of the SWORD 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 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.

Features Common to All SWORD Applications

For the most part all the SWORD 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 customised scopes.
• Strong's, morphological info, cross references and footnotes
• All frontends listed below are undergoing more or less active development.
• Verse and block layout
• Image support in all types of modules
• Localisation - all frontends are designed to be readily translatable. Many are translated in various languages.

Side-by-Side Comparison of Notable SWORD Applications

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
• SPW - The SWORD Project for Windows
• SB - SwordBible
• Xiph - Xiphos (formerly GnomeSword)

A blank entry means that it is unknown whether a feature is present.

This is a work in progress. Footnotes are automatically numbered.

Operating Systems and Portability

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Runs on Windows 95/98/NT/ME		yes		no		no	yes		no
Runs on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7	yes	yes	partial	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
Runs on Mac OS X 10.3+		yes		no	yes	yes	no	no	no
Runs on Mac OS X 10.4+	yes	yes	partial	no	yes	yes	no	no	no
Runs on Linux	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Runs on other Unix	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes
Can be installed to run from USB drive	no	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no

Module Support

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Daily Devotions Start with Today	yes	yes		yes				yes	yes
Daily Devotions Show Friendly Dates	yes	yes		yes				no	no
Shows Testament Introductions	no	no			no			no
Shows Book Introductions	no	no		no	no	yes	yes	no	yes
Shows Chapter Introductions	no	no		yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes
Personal Commentary	no	no	yes	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes
Journal	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes
Right to Left Texts	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Complex Scripts				no			partial		yes

Right to Left texts - Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew and other modules Right-to-Left scripts are displayed from right-to-left and correctly shaped.
Daily Devotions - While all SWORD applications support Daily Devotions modules, some open a Daily Devotion to the current day.
Introductions - Some modules contain Testament, Book and Chapter introductions. Some SWORD applications do not handle them.
User Editable Module Content - The application supports the Personal Commentary and may allow other types of module creation.
Complex Scripts - The application can display correctly Indic and derrived scripts (or other scripts of similar layout) - subject to availability of adequate fonts and standardised Unicode

Module Management

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Integrated module manager	yes	yes	yes	partial	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Module unlocking support	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes		yes
Multiple download repositories	yes	yes	yes	no	n/a	yes			yes
Local Repositories (e.g. CrossWire CD)	no	no	yes	no	n/a		yes		yes
Downloaded modules are available immediately without restart	no	yes	yes	yes	n/a	yes	no		yes
User is warned of internet access		yes	yes	no	n/a		yes		yes
User is warned of download size		yes		n/a	n/a				yes
User can continue working while download is in progress		yes	yes	n/a	n/a		yes		no
Download can be canceled		yes	yes	n/a	n/a				partial
User is warned if module already exists.		yes		no	n/a				partial
User is notified of module updates		no	yes	no	n/a				yes
User is notified of new modules		no		no	n/a				yes
Hiding/Showing installed modules	no	no	yes	no	no	no	yes	no	no
Modules sorted by type		yes	yes	yes			yes		yes
Modules are further sorted by language		yes	yes	no			no		yes
Modules can be archived/exported	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes

Image Module Support

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Image Resizing	no	no	no	no	no		no	no	yes
GIF/JPG formats	yes	yes			yes	yes	yes		yes
PNG format	yes	yes	yes		yes	yes	yes		yes
SVG format	no	no			yes	yes	no		yes

Windowing and Text Display

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Window Layout flexible	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes			yes
Un/Linkable	yes	yes		no	n/a				yes
Parallel Display	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes		yes
Multiple texts	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes			yes
Poetry Layout	yes	yes		yes	yes		yes		yes
Ruby Layout	no	no	no		no				no
Module default font	yes	yes		no			yes		yes
Font settable per module	yes	yes		no			no		yes
Font settable per language		yes		no			no		no
Transliteration	no	no		no	no	no	yes	no	yes

Search and Dictionary

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Able to create a search index		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes
Able to delete a search index		yes		yes	no			n/a	yes
User can continue to use application while index is being created		yes		no	n/a				no
Indexed Search	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes
Cross Verse Proximity Search	yes	yes		yes	yes	no	yes	no	yes
indexed Strong, Morphology and Body search	yes	yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes
indexed CrossRef search	yes	yes		yes	yes		no	no	no
indexed Note and Heading search	yes	yes		no	yes		no	no	no
Fuzzy search	yes	yes			yes		yes	no	yes
GenBook and Commentary search				yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Combined module search		no		no	no	no	no	no	yes
Search scopes	yes	yes			no		yes		yes
Automatic/On-Mouse Strongs/Morphology lookup	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Automatic/On-Mouse Glossary lookup							yes	yes	yes

Bookmarking, Tagging, Listing and Notes

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Bookmarks, Verselists or Tags			yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Manual adding			yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Search result adding									yes
Permanent									yes
Hierarchical					yes	yes		no	yes
Drag and drop management								n/a	yes
Exportable					yes	no			no
User comments				yes	no	yes			no
Study Notes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes

Application	Permanent Bookmarks, Tags or Verse Lists	Nestable	With Comments	Exportable	Study Notes
Alkitab Bible Study	manual and search result				yes
BibleDesktop (JSword)	manual and search result				yes
BibleTime (see also Kio-Sword)					yes
BPBible (wxPython)	manual and search result	yes	yes	yes	no
FireBible (JSword/FireFox)	manual and search result	yes	no	yes	no
MacSword	manual and search result	yes	yes	no	yes
The SWORD Project for Windows	manual and search result	yes	no		yes
SwordBible		no			yes
Xiphos (GNOME) (formerly GnomeSword)	manual and search result	yes	no	no	yes

Session and State Management

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Layout stored
Interface language
Open Modules									yes
Search Results
Storing of multiple Sessions									yes

Help System

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Manual, English		yes	yes	no			yes		yes
Manual, Other				no					yes
Active links to online help				yes					yes
Tooltips		yes		yes					yes

Localization

The following table lists all languages for which at least two applications are available. The remaining langauges are listed in footnotes. Only languages with at least 70% of the user interface translated are listed.

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
GUI RtoL Support		yes	yes	no	no	yes	no		yes
English	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
German, Deutsch	no	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes
Portuguese	no	no	yes	no		yes	yes	no	yes
Finnish, Suomi	no	no	yes	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes
Persian		yes	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes
Chinese, 日本語		yes	no	no	no	no	yes	no	no
Vietnamese	no	yes	no	yes	no	no	no	no	no
Indonesian, Bahasa Indonesia	yes	no	no	no	no	no	yes	no	no
French	no		yes	no	no	yes	no	no	yes
Czech	no	no	yes	no	no	no	yes	no	no
Spanish	no	no	yes	no	no	yes	no	no	no
Polish	no	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	no	no

Other

Feature	ABS	BD	BT	BPB	FB	MS	SPW	SB	Xiph
Extramodular Bible Reading Plan	yes	yes		no	no	no	no	yes	no
Other extramodular content	no	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes	no
Read aloud	no	partial		no	no	yes	no	no	yes
Other features not listed otherwise									yes