[sword-devel] Global search

[DM Smith]

Karl Kleinpaste wrote:
> Daniel Owens <dhowens at pmbx.net> writes:
>   
>> I really like the advanced search dialog (I never knew it was there!),
>> though a "search all modules" or something like that would be nice to
>> save time.
>>     
>
> Um.  Not necessarily a good idea, for those who keep most everything
> installed.  Even single-language lists might not help a lot.
>
> $ ls -1 ~/.sword/mods.d|wc -l
> 298
> $ grep -l Lang=en ~/.sword/mods.d/*|wc -l
> 157
>
> I install all modules but the non-English dictionaries.  I have always
> tended to work for thoroughly international companies and I like being
> able to show what our software can do -- that whole "be prepared in
> season and out of season" thing, 2Tim 4:2, and I've impressed more than
> a couple people by having Chinese, Filipino, and Farsi Bibles on hand.
> I have about 2G under ~/.sword but disc space costs nothing.
>   
I have all modules installed, too. (I don't know how you can stand all 
the tabs!) To me searching them all does not make sense.

Some thoughts for discussion:
1) Searching should be restricted to targeted material. For example,
    Don't search German Bibles for English words. An English search 
should be targeted to English publications.
    Don't search commentaries, dictionaries and other non-bibles when 
someone is trying to find verses.
    Don't search non-dictionaries when doing word lookup.

2) Do what the user asks and expects, but offer them more. For example,
    Given that the user has just performed a search for "Aaron AND 
Moses" to get a verse list.
        Offer commentary entries for the same hits.
        Offer module entries that reference the hit verses.
        Offer related verses for each hit verse (there are a variety of 
ways to do this.)
        Offer results of a synonym search.
    Similarly, a user has done a lookup for a specific verse. The same 
kind of extras can be done.
    When doing a dictionary search of a word, search all relevant 
dictionaries (i.e. not glossaries, devotionals and other LD; not an 
inappropriate language), putting the preferred dictionary's results first.
    When looking up a Strong's number in a Strong's lexicon:
       Offer verses having that entry (even if the user's selected set 
of Bibles does not include one with Strong's numbers, but the user has 
one with Strong's numbers installed)
       Offer related verses.
    Do additional work in the background, in a separate thread, so that 
the requested results can be used immediately.
    Allow the user to cancel additional work.


Basically, when we do Bible study, we go through a process of discovery. 
For example, if I am doing a word study, I start by looking up that word 
(in its various forms) in the Bible and I note the different ways it is 
translated. I also look at the different Strong's numbers that those 
words use and the different ways that those Strong's numbers are 
translated. I'll also use various dictionaries to further understand the 
words. I then prune and expand the list of interesting verses. 
Sometimes, I get distracted and go off on a tangent of serendipitous 
discovery.

I think we should allow users the ability to tailor the applications to 
enhance their study path. One of my grips about software in general is 
that software is inflexible, requiring me to adapt to it.

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