Mac Bible Software Update

Updates Galore! Accordance 6.3, MacSword 1.1, Bible Reader Free 0.98

by David Lang (Posted: 7/18/04)

 

Accordance Updated Again: New Startup, Copy, Display, and Search Features

Just over a month and a half after the last update to Accordance Bible Software, another free update is now available for download. Here are a few of the new features and enhancements in Accordance 6.3:

Startup Options
Accordance now gives you the option to startup with the default Bible window, a previously saved session, or whatever you had open the last time you quit the program.


Scripture Hypertext Links
When you drag your cursor over a Scripture Hypertext link, the text of that verse will be displayed in the Instant Details Box. You no longer need to click the link to view it.

Copy Options
A new Copy As submenu gives you the following options:
• Copy As Citation will format a selection in continuous paragraphs, enclosed in quotation marks, and appended with the verse references in parentheses.
• Copy As References will copy and format just the references for a selection of verses without including the text.
• Copy As No Superscript will copy the text of selected verses without superscript characters such as note references.

Tool Window Enhancements
• You can now search multiple fields within Accordance Tools. See screenshot at right.
• You can now specify whether you want multiple search elements to appear within the same article or paragraph.
• The current Page number is automatically displayed beside the Hit and paragraph counts, for all tools that have page numbers.

Search All Window
The Search All window will now search every field of every tool. Results are sorted by field.

Here a search has been performed for every article on David which includes a reference to 1Samuel 17 but which does not include the word "Goliath." The page number is displayed in bold type.

For the complete list of new features in Accordance 6.3, visit the Accordance web-site.

MacSword 1.1 Released

In May we reported that version 1.1 of MacSword was being beta-tested. MacSword 1.1 was released on June 26. The most significant new feature is support for general books, which makes it possible for MacSword users to further expand their library of modules. Other enhancements include:

• Find ranges now supported — for faster and more accurate searching

• Bookmark highlighting — highlight your favourite verses in all your bibles

• Regular expression search results are now highlighted

• Left to right text supported properly

• Devotionals now remember window opened in

• MacSword remembers expanded items in modules list

MacSword 1.1 now supports general books such as Calvin's Institutes or Bunyan's Pilgim's Progress


Bible Reader Free 0.98

Bible Reader Free was updated to version 0.98 on June 23. According to the developers, this is the last pre-release version before BRF goes 1.0. Changes include:

[NEW] Quick Jump feature. Press Cmd-J to open the Jump window. Type the first few letters of the book to jump to and optionally enter the chapter and/or verse and press Return to go there in the frontmost Browse window. Hold down Cmd when pressing Return to open the chapter in a new window

[CHG] Simplified the Swap options where searches are involved. Now, whenever Swaps is activated in the Preferences, Swaps is also active in searches and search results

[NEW] Cmd-1 to Cmd-9 changes the translation of the frontmost Browse window, in then order they are listed in the translation popup menu. Additionally, Cmd-0 will show the Search results window

[NEW] Search results window: it's now possible to adjust the divider between the listed results at the top and the verse shown at the bottom

[CHG] Searches only find the original words in the biblical text, not the Swaps that replace them. For example, searching for 'you' where it is a Swap for 'thou' will not return it as a result, but searching for 'thou' when they have been swapped for 'you' will.

The new Quick Jump feature lets you type in book, chapter, and verse rather than selecting the book name from a pop-up menu.



David Lang is CMUG's Content Editor. David works as a developer of Accordance Bible Software, and lives in Maitland, Florida with his wife and four children.

Other Articles:
2004 Mac Bible Software Survey: Let us know your thoughts about Mac Bible Software.
Review of MacSword 1.0: Open-Source Bible Program for OS X Examined.
Getting the Bible's Number: How to Use Strong's Numbers in Mac Bible Study Software.

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