Sunday, October 17, 2010

Function 10: The Bibleworks Editor

Function 10: The Bibleworks Editor
The Bibleworks editor is just that, an editor, it comes with all the functions of a Rich Text editor with plenty of options for formatting and filing. This makes the editor a very valuable tool, however in our adventures here, most of us know how to use a RT Editor we know how to adjust fonts and text size. For sake of space and for my sanity in writing, I will not be going through all the more known features instead I will be focusing in on some the features that are unique to BW.
To open the editor, you can, click on the tab which is located in the analysis window. You can also open it to be a floating window, you can do this through the main file button locate on the top left side or by clicking the fourth button over on the main toolbar. Unlike other RT editors this one also saves straight to the BW directory in the ini file or the my documents, however, it is important that you know where it is saved and change it to where you would prefer. You can do this by clicking on the button that has four yellow squares three in line vertically and one horizontal from the middle, all connected by a lines. By clicking this you will be able to tell BW where you would prefer it to save and search for your files.
Some of the unique functions of the editor obviously come with the Bible, with the editor you can insert chunks of scripture with relative ease. However, with BW and with the use of original language there may arise a problem, and that is, which font do I use and should it be Unicode or not. I will save the Unicode vs. non-Unicode for a different blog, however the problem does not exist with the editor because BW equips the editor (and the notes window) with a very simple button so that you can highlight and chance the text either to Unicode or not in Hebrew or Greek fonts. The Unicode button has either the Hebrew Aleph (for Hebrew fonts) or the Greek Alpha (for Greek fonts) with a small yellow dot above the letters, if there is no yellow dot it means that it will change it to a non-Unicode font.
The Bible insertion tool for the text editor is found among the normal tools on the tool bar running across the top. It is a very useful and easy to use tool found in the editor and is unique to BW (I think, I have never seen it anywhere else). The first thing that can be noticed is two text boxes to type in or put in by another means the text you want inserted and the version you want inserted. On the right hand side of these boxes is a button that looks mildly like an open book with an arrow pointing up, this if simply pressed will insert the text in the box, if you click on the dropdown it will also give you the option of “fetching the current” this is the text which is in the current browse window and search version. Next to this is the same looking button but instead of an arrow you have a question mark. This, if clicked, will open a window which will allow you to choose the version you would like your text to be displayed in, if not already the search version. In this you can also choose multiple version to display. The next button over will insert the text into your document but in the form of a chart.
Another unique thing that you can do with this RT editor is create filters to filter your text through. What it does, is it takes text in your editor and applies a filter. If you click on right click on empty space and to edit->filter setup you can then adjust which kind of text you want to filter and what you want to come out of the filter. To be honest I do not at the present see many uses for this, but there are some, especially if you have a lot of small adjustments to make in very similar fashion, this would speed that process up or even if you wanted to change a lot of English lettering into Greek or Hebrew, but it will not toggle between Unicode and non-Unicode.

2 comments:

  1. If you want to see a BibleWorks training seminar, I recently did one at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. The seminary's IT staff made it available on their website. You can listen and see my screen. It would be an excellent way to learn how to use our software.

    http://blog.luthersem.edu/freerangelearning/2010/10/bibleworks-training-sept-30-2010.html

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  2. Jim, I just recently got your comment, thank you very much, I have always wanted to attend one of these sessions, but it simply has never worked out with my schedule or location.

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