BW7 & Integration with other programs...

[Ruben Gomez]

I see... OLE and DDE are still alive Thank you, Joe.

Rubén Gómez

[jdarlack]

...could you tell us a bit more about how this link manager works? It reminds me of the old OLE technology that used to be available in some programs many moons ago...

Here's a quote from the new Help Manual regarding the External Link Manager:

The External Link Manager provides a means of accessing Web sites or other PC applications from within BibleWorks, and passing information and/or search parameters to them. This in effect allows BibleWorks to control these applications. The External Links Manager permits you to define the nature of the link and attach it to a BibleWorks menu so that the link can be executed just by choosing a menu entry.

For those of you who are programmers, what BibleWorks does when you click on one of these menu entries, is gather the information that you have specified for the link and pass it to the operating system in the form of a ShellExecute command. BibleWorks handles all the details so you don't have to, but knowing what is going on may help some people understand better how to use the ELM.

You can specify what BW will provide for the link (e.g., Verse Reference; Form; Lemma or NULL [nothing at all]). You can also determine what kind of text is provided (e.g., Bible Verse; Greek Morphology; Greek Text; Hebrew Morphology; Hebrew Text; Latin Text; External Resource; NULL). You can then define which databases the option will appear in when you right click a word (or if you want to put it in the main menu), and you can define which version's verse mapping you would use.

The ELM is an expansion of BW6's shellexec feature that enabled users to look up words in Perseus, etc. One of the main enhancements is the addition of book, chapter and verse entries that facilitate looking up specific passages in other programs.

[Ruben Gomez]

The ELM is an expansion of BW6's shellexec feature that enabled users to look up words in Perseus, etc. One of the main enhancements is the addition of book, chapter and verse entries that facilitate looking up specific passages in other programs.

Thank you for the info. It sounds really great. It would be very interesting to gather a list of applications/websites that can be linked, searched, etc. by means of this feature, as well as sample links (i.e., syntax used to make the links work properly).

Best,

Rubén Gómez

[Joe Fleener]

Thank you for the info. It sounds really great. It would be very interesting to gather a list of applications/websites that can be linked, searched, etc. by means of this feature, as well as sample links (i.e., syntax used to make the links work properly).

Best,

Rubén Gómez

I am not sure what the program will ship with. We compiled a set of links during the Beta phase. I assume 7.0 will ship with these as examples.

I know I have about 22 links in my ELM.

It would be no problem starting a thread where we could share what we have now and other users "discover" once more people start to play with the tool.

[xara777]

No one in a PC platform can outperform BibleWorks in speed and complexity of searches.

Jim, what complex original language searches is BibleWorks capable of that Libronix cannot do? Or do you mean "outperform" in the sense that BibleWorks does complex searches with greater ease and speed as opposed to searches that Libronix cannot do?

Thanks,

Mike

[jdarlack]

No one in a PC platform can outperform BibleWorks in speed and complexity of searches.

Jim, what complex original language searches is BibleWorks capable of that Libronix cannot do? Or do you mean "outperform" in the sense that BibleWorks does complex searches with greater ease and speed as opposed to searches that Libronix cannot do?...

Mike, I'll be careful here, because I do not want to enter into any "contests." My opinions are admittedly biased, given that I have become quite accustomed to using BibleWorks. That being said. I have tried (for the sake of showing students in our library) to figure out how to do quick grammatical searches using Libronix's interface--not simple lexical searches (which are quite easy with a right-click in Libronix)--I'm speaking of more complex searches, such as all the instances of a certain inflected form followed by an inflected form within two words that agree with the previous inflected form, etc. Searches that depend on grammar (rather than lemmata) have yet to be surpassed by Libronix (IMHO). That being said, I know that Libronix is developing and beta testing a database that has the GNT broken into clausal structures, so that someone could search on the use of a particular adjective in a non-verbal clause. BibleWorks does not yet have that capability...but who knows in the future.

I think in a sense, that because Libronix is designed to be an electronic library program, the "rich text" of their databases slows down the program a great deal as well. BibleWorks does not claim to be, nor will it ever claim to be an "electronic library." It's purpose is to facilitate quick, detailed work with the original languages...not to build a library. So, BibleWorks tends to excel (in my opinion) in this area.

~Jim

[Glenn Weaver]

I'm surprised no one has said anything about linking to Google. Here is an external link for Google, plus one for Google Sets. I copied this from my ShellExec.txt. You may need to renumber the External Link # for your list, or you can enter them manually in the BW 7 External Link Manager.

Glenn
===========================
// External Link #22
//
[Google search]
Operation = Open
Directory = NULL
File = http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=<dummy>&btnG=Google+Search
Parameters = NULL
MenuLocation = Browse Window English
TextType = Latin Text
MapToVersion = NULL
Lookup = Form
MenuText = Google
Enabled = 1
//
// External Link #23
//
[Google Sets]
Operation = Open
Directory = NULL
File = http://labs.google.com/sets?hl=en&q1=<dummy>&q2=&q3=&q4=&q5=&btn=Large+Se t
Parameters = NULL
MenuLocation = Browse Window English
TextType = Latin Text
MapToVersion = NULL
Lookup = Form
MenuText = Google Sets
Enabled = 1

[xara777]

Glenn,

Can you give a couple of practical examples on how you would make use of the Google external links? How would you use it in your exegetical work?

Thanks,

Mike

[Glenn Weaver]

Here is are some examples, Mike. They may not be the best examples. The Google results vary greatly, since the search base is 1) the entire Internet, and 2) not based upon Biblical texts or worldviews. In other words, you may get a bunch of irrelevant hints, only because the search has not been refined to produce Biblically-relevant hints. It's just another tool among many. When it doesn't work, put it back in the toolbox.

Google: Searching place names to find background information or current discussion about a site. For example, search on 'Bethsaida' from Mat. 11:21 to quickly find info and pictures on Bethsaida.

Google Sets: Use Google Sets to find related terms for a variety of purposes. Your purpose could be to find other related search terms (in essence, a synonym finder). Perhaps a pastor will want to what is the common usage of a word on the Internet. (Some of the Google Sets hits are surprising.) A third purpose may be to develop a topical study, gathering terms related to the word in your Bible text. One search example is the word 'mercy'.

[Joshua Luna]

Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) and Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/ both dictionary and thesaurus tools) would be good candidates alongside Google, although my guess some of the encyclopedias included in BW as standard would be a good first look.