Limiting Analysis Window / Word Tip data based on word frequency?

[jdarlack]

A professor at GCTS was wondering if there is a way to limit the Word Tip/Analysis Window lexical data/glosses based on word frequency--for instance, if a student only wanted to get 'word tips' on words used less than 50 times in the New Testament so that they did not get 'lazy' with words used 50 or more times in the NT.

Has anyone come up with a means of doing this?

Any ideas?

I know you can use the Word List Manager to generate a list of words in the NT by frequency. You can then use that list to do a GSE search and highlight the words with the "Apply Color" tool. This, at the very least, would 'clue' the student in as to what words they should know. Still, it does not suppress the Analysis Window/Tool Tips in a way that would facilitate 'discipline' in using BW.

[rdtaylorjr]

This is a great idea, and I would love to see it implemented. Unfortunately, I don't have any ideas about how to do so.

[Lee]

I agree, that would be a great feature.

[Glenn Weaver]

Hi Jim,

BibleWorks 8 already contains this feature, at least for the Analysis Window. Classroom Tip 2.3 gives instructions on how to set up and turn on this feature. Here is the link:

http://www.bibleworks.com/classroom/2_03/index.html

There is no such feature for the Word Tips, but you can turn those off and only use the Analysis Window.

Blessings,
Glenn

[Lee]

Thanks for the information, Glenn. I don't think a day passes that I don't learn something new and useful that BW can do.

[jdarlack]

Awesome Glenn! Thanks!

[Michael Hanel]

This would be a much more fidgety way to make the changes, but since the word tips glosses are based on the vocabulary files, one could also make a copy of the vocabulary with the most common words altered or removed so that glosses would not appear in the word tip pop up.

I haven't done this so step by step may be a bit off, but this is the general procedure you'd have to follow. The way this works is that BW uses gntvoc.vrc as the source of the pop-up glosses, so if you want to edit those glosses, you have to edit this file by way of the .vrt file.


1. (THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT!) In the subdirectory "init" in BibleWorks make an EXTRA copy of the files "gntvoc.vrt" and "gntvoc.vrc" (I simply made a copy and called it backupgntvoc.vrc and backupgnt.vrt.
2. After having made copies of both sets of these open the gntvoc.vrt file in Excel. Sort the words by their frequency and either delete the lowest freq #s or delete their glosses. Save the files.
3. In BibleWorks, go to the vocab module and import your new gntvoc.vrt file.
4. If you have BibleWorks open, close it and restart it.
5. Now when you use the Greek text, glosses will be provided for those words which still have glosses in the database when you mouse over it
** to get back to your old forms delete the gntvoc.vrt and .vrc files and rename your backupgntvoc.vrt and .vrc files.
** doing this could be problematic if BibleWorks ever updated their vocabulary file via a downloaded update. Another reason why this method is not highly suggested.

Granted, I am saying this would work in theory. I didn't actually try it. Also, I don't think your average user would want to mess with these things, but if it was really important for you not to have BW provide you with these glosses, this would be another way to do it.