BibleViewer is a program for reading, searching, and browsing the Holy Bible on Macintosh computers. It offers many features that make it useful while retaining a simplicity that makes it easy to use. BibleViewer may be freely copied.
Using BibleViewer
System Requirements
BibleViewer runs on any kind of Macintosh and has been tested on a wide variety of different systems. It requires as little as 500K available memory. It is designed to be fast and friendly.
Starting
When BibleViewer is started it looks for a document called “Bible” in its folder. (If one isn’t found the file can be located and it will be remembered for the next launch.) The first time BibleViewer is used chapter 1 of Genesis will be displayed in a new window. In subsequent sessions BibleViewer will restore the window positions and contents as it was when quit.
The window contents has 3 parts that are formatted: the text, the verse numbers, and the leading cap (the first letter of a chapter). The default makes the text compact and readable, the numbers smaller but distinguished, and the leading cap large and decorative. Each part has a color assigned to it, as does the background. Verses can be made to start on a new line or run together.
Use the Format command in the Edit menu to change the format settings. Experiment!
Navigating
Each BibleViewer window contains the text from a chapter. Scrolling the window is done in the usual manner: with the mouse on the scroll bar parts, or with the keyboard home, end, page-up, and page-down keys. As an added convenience the space bar works like page-down but will also cause a jump to the next chapter when the end of a chapter is reached. The return key scrolls down a line at a time in the same way clicking on the scroll down arrow would. The speed or direction of scrolling can be changed using various modifier keys. (See Tips and Tricks below.)
To display a different chapter the Jump command in the Navigate menu is used. A dialog prompts for the name of the book and number of the chapter. A popup menu may be used to choose the book name, or any unique abbreviation of the name can be typed. A chapter number can be specified by typing the number after the book name. The Navigate menu also contains commands to jump to the next or previous, chapter or book.
Bookmarks
To return to a particular place in the Bible at a later time a bookmark can be placed using the Set command in the Bookmarks menu. A dialog prompts for a name for the bookmark; the default is whatever is currently selected. The name now appears in the Bookmark menu; selecting it will cause a jump to the saved location. Bookmarks are retained until no longer needed and deleted with the Remove command.
Searching
BibleViewer has a highly efficient search engine that performs nearly instantaneous finding of words and phrases. Choose the Find command from the Navigate menu to specify the word or phrase. There are buttons to select the search method, a maximum distance for when using the “all of the words” choice, and a range option for restricting the search to only part of the Bible.
Search Options
You can search for the next occurence of any of a number of words by choosing the “any of the words” option. e.g. A search for “Mary Joseph” would find instances where either one of the names is mentioned.
Searching for words that appear within a certain distance of each other is done by choosing the “all of the words” option. e.g. A search for “Mary Joseph” with maximum distance 20 would find where both names are mentioned within almost 20 words of each other.
Sometimes spellings or word forms aren't known exactly. To quickly find particular words that are in the Bible click the “List…” button and type a few letters from the word. Words can be selected and used in a search.
Menus
File
New Window… opens a new window for another chapter
Close closes the frontmost window
Save As… saves the text in the frontmost window to a plain text file
Save Selection As… saves the text of the current selection to a plain text file
Export… creates a text file with the text from a range of book chapters
Preferences… sets several preferences including whether 1, 2, etc. command keys refer to windows or bookmarks
Edit
Format… defines the formats used for display
Navigate
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter changes the window to display the previous or next chapter
Previous Book
Next Book changes the window to display the previous or next book
Jump To… changes the window to display a given book chapter
Find… searches for the next occurence of a word or set of words
Find Again… continues the search
Bookmarks
Set Mark… records the chapter, book, and current selection and tags it with a name for later recall
Remove Mark… allows removal of one or several bookmarks from the list
(Bookmark list) jumps to the chapter/book and selects the text as recorded during Set Mark
Window
Hints… displays the Hints window containing online help
(Window list) brings another window to the front
Tips and Tricks
The option key can modify the behavior of several commands. When holding the option key while choosing:
New Window - there is no prompt for a chapter/book, the current window is “duplicated”
Close - not just one window is closed, all are
Jump To - the existing window doesn't change, a new window is opened for the jump
Set Mark - there is no prompt for a name, the current selection names the mark
(bookmark choice) - the existing window doesn't change, a new window is opened to display the bookmark location
The modifier keys affect scrolling:
• the Command () key scrolls double speed;
• the option key scrolls half speed;
• the control (ctrl) key scrolls minimum speed;
• the shift key scrolls in the opposite direction.
Legal disclaimer
BibleViewer is supplied “as-is” and comes without warranty of any kind.
Feedback
BibleViewer may be freely copied without requiring permission. (Of course it must be unchanged and complete as its original distribution.)
I hope you enjoy using BibleViewer. If you do a donation of $10 would be appreciated; it means a lot to know that BibleViewer is useful to you. It’s only the donations in the past that have allowed its continued development. BibleViewer is registered with the Kagi service so you easily use credit card, check, cash, etc. The Register program included with BibleViewer is used if you want to mail, email, or fax. Or you can make your donation over the web at http://www.kagi.com/HolyMac/. Please see the About Registration document for more details. Thanks!
BibleViewer information can be found at the web site www.kagi.com/HolyMac/.
For questions not answered there email to “HolyMac@kagi.com” is happily received.
