Frontends:Diatheke
Contents
What is diatheke?
Diatheke is a very simple command line interface (CLI) front-end to the SWORD Project's Bible software library. Essentially, "diatheke" is the stuff contained within the file "corediatheke.cpp" in the apps/console/diatheke directory of the SWORD source tree. Corediatheke.cpp contains only one function that is intended to be called from any program using diatheke, and that function performs exactly one lookup in the SWORD library per call. Examples of calls would be a query for a verse (or verse list/range), a search, a request for a list of modules, etc.
Where's the name 'diatheke' come from?
Diatheke means 'testament' or 'commandment'. And diatheke (the program) was originally a command line application. commandment... command line app... It's a pun.
So how is diatheke useful to me?
Probably it isn't, but there are a number of front-ends to diatheke (yes, front-ends to a front-end) that are of use. These include:
- diatheke/CLI: a command-line interface to SWORD
- diatheke/TCL: a BibleBot for eggdrop that interfaces with diatheke/CLI
- diatheke/CGI: a Perl/CGI interface to diatheke/CLI
- HANDiatheke: a Palm PQA interface to diatheke/CGI
- ActiveDiatheke: an ActiveX control (.OCX) interface to SWORD
How do I get diatheke?
To get the very latest version, grab the SWORD source tree from our SVN repository using the URL: https://crosswire.org/svn/sword/trunk
e.g. $ svn checkout https://crosswire.org/svn/sword/trunk sword
If you don't want to use SVN, you can try grabbing a recent release from ftp://ftp.crosswire.org/pub/sword/source/
For diatheke/CLI and diatheke/CGI you can download version 4.0 from:
- ftp://ftp.crosswire.org/pub/sword/frontend/diatheke/diatheke-4.0-win32.zip (Windows binary)
- ftp://ftp.crosswire.org/pub/sword/frontend/diatheke/diatheke-4.0-src.zip (source)
For diatheke/TCL and HANDiatheke you can download version 2.0 from ftp://ftp.crosswire.org/pub/sword/frontend/diatheke/diatheke-2.0.tar.gz.
For ActiveDiatheke you can download a preliminary version from ftp://ftp.crosswire.org/pub/sword/frontend/diatheke/ActiveDiatheke.zip.
How do I use diatheke/CLI?
The following are a few examples of calling diatheke from the command line: (booknames can be abbreviated, providing this avoids ambiguity)
| Retrieve Acts ch 10 | diatheke -b KJV -k "Acts 10" |
| First five verses of above | diatheke -b KJV -m 5 -k "Acts 10" |
| Acts chapter 1 and 2 | diatheke -b KJV -k "Acts 1-2" |
| Genesis 1:1 | diatheke -b KJV G 1:1 |
| Galatians 1:1 w/ Strong's (if available) | diatheke -b KJV -o n -k "Ga 1:1" |
| I Corinthians 1:1 (also "ic 1:1") | diatheke -b KJV -o n -k "1c 1:1" |
| Revelation 1:1-1:7 | diatheke -b KJV -k "Rev 1:1-7" |
| Revelation 1:1 | diatheke -b KJV -m 1 -k "R 1:1-7" |
| Revelation 1:1,1:3,1:7 as HTML (w/ <p>, <i>, etc. tags) | diatheke -b KJV -f HTML -k R 1:1,3,7 |
| verses with "my people", quotations optional | diatheke -b KJV -s phrase -k "my people" |
| verses with "skin" and "bones" | diatheke -b KJV -s multiword -k skin bones |
| verses with "church" or "assembly" | diatheke -b KJV -s regex -k "church | assembly" |
| Strong's Greek 3056 | diatheke -b StrongsGreek -k 3056 |
| Definition of "horn" in Two Babylons | diatheke -b 2BabDict -k horn |
| Entry for John 1:1 in Family Bible Notes | diatheke -b Family -k Jn 1:1 |
| Entry for "Lion" in Scripture Alphabet Of Animals | diatheke -b SAOA -k "Lion" |
| Entry for "olive-tree" in Easton's Bible Dictionary | diatheke -b Easton -k olive-tree |
| Matthew 24 from Westcott Hort Greek NT transliterated into Latin script | diatheke -b WHNU -t Latin -o mn -k "Mt 24" |
Tools that use Diatheke
AutoKey script for The SWORD Project
Ryan (Adyeth) has developed a script for the AutoKey 0.6x utility to do paste Bible text given a reference. It works with OpenOffice, plain text editors, or any other Linux program where you might need to paste scripture passages. It requires Diatheke in order to function. You can download it from his website.
