Using logosres links on Macintosh
Long-time Mac users probably know that it is not easy/possible to use logosres:, logos4:, etc. links from other applications (Pages, Keynote, Word for Mac, etc.).
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then please ignore the rest of this post. This is for the "power users" who have tried to use this feature before and can provide feedback on a potential solution. If it works, we'll make it easily available to everyone. [:)]
We've developed a prototype web-based resolver that may be able to bridge the gap between other Mac applications and Logos 5.
Right now, you have to hand-edit the URLs that the app generates. If the URL you get from Logos is "{protocol}:{data}", then change it to "http://ref.ly/{protocol}/data".
For example, if you copy this URL from Bible Facts: logos4:Facts;id=$23Jesus;diagram=1809_Mt_1.1$E2$80$9317.xml, change it to http://ref.ly/logos4/Facts;id=$23Jesus;diagram=1809_Mt_1.1$E2$80$9317.xml.
Or if you copy this from a resource: logosres:esv;ref=BibleESV.Jn3.16, change it to http://ref.ly/logosres/esv;ref=BibleESV.Jn3.16.
These new http links are designed to be used from other applications; this isn't a replacement for how to write links in PBB books (yet).
Right now, it appears that the links only function correctly if Logos 5 is already running; if the link starts Logos 5, it may not open to the right place. Please let us know what other problems you run into; when reporting a problem, be sure to state which external application you're using, and what your default browser is. (We have tested Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.)
Comments
-
Hey, this is cool!
As a non-Mac user, this immediately came to my mind as a workaround for the current limitation in Community Notes, which can link to the web but not to a Logos resource. This now does allow it (running Chrome browser, first time use of it brought a security alert whether I want to allow it opening the Logos application, even though Logos was already running)
FWIW, on the PC, this new syntax will open L5 if it is closed (tested by pasting http://ref.ly/logosres/slvrysbbthwrwmn;ref=Page.p_17;off=577 into a new Word document)
I expect you to add a new button option to the resurce tile menu "Copy location as [ref.ly]" or so?
EDIT: One thing: on Chrome for PC the Redirect tab doesn't close automatically (which may be intentional, as it says "Click here if your browser does not redirect you." with here being the logosres: link)
Other thing:
Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:(We have tested Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.)
Since users may not differentiate between Mac and Win usage (some may have both, some may share a MacWord *.doxc with a Windows-using friend) I think it would be prudent to test this on IE and the Windows-implementations - and potentially mobile browser editions of those named plus silk as well. Users will get the impression that the ref.ly feature is the cross-platform link feature (evernote and such things come to mind) and use them indiscriminatorily, your testing should reflect this beforehand to avoid issues later on.
Have joy in the Lord!
0 -
Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:
Or if you copy this from a resource: logosres:esv;ref=BibleESV.Jn3.16, change it to http://ref.ly/logosres/esv;ref=BibleESV.Jn3.16.
Neat! Works from MS Word for Mac and Safari. Even worked correctly with page offsets in non-Bible resources. Took me a couple of tries as I failed to notice that the colon after logosres was changed to a / [8-|].
The redirect browser tab was a bit surprising on the first successful link.
Do you intend to incorporate this into "Copy as URL" ?
0 -
NB.Mick said:Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:
(We have tested Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.)
Since users may not differentiate between Mac and Win usage (some may have both, some may share a MacWord *.doxc with a Windows-using friend) I think it would be prudent to test this on IE and the Windows-implementations
We will definitely be testing this with all major browsers on Windows before releasing it. As you discovered, it does work for Windows users (and we intend this to be a cross-platform solution). I announced it to Mac users, because they're currently the ones most affected by lack of OS support for the logos4: (etc.) protocols.
0 -
Jack Caviness said:
Do you intend to incorporate this into "Copy as URL" ?
Yes, we do, once we're confident that it's working well. It's working for us internally, but we wanted to get some external feedback before adding it, just in case there were some tweaks necessary to support different browsers, firewalls, antivirus, etc. that we haven't tested, but that some of our customers are using.0 -
Mellel 3.1.3b1 will not generate a link, but that is a limitation in that word processor, not a fault with Logos.
Also could not make this work in Pages 09 4.3 (1048) as the application only recognized the first part of the link as an actual hypertext link
0 -
will this completely replace LOGOSRES: even on PC?
if its gonna be online only will need to rethink some of my documents
Never Deprive Anyone of Hope.. It Might Be ALL They Have
0 -
This works for me in Pages, Word for Mac 8 and TextEdit. It does not work with Mellel as Jack pointed out. The only annoying aspect at this point is that it opens the browser with a redirect tab and a new redirect tab each time using Safari and Mt Lion latest updates.
0 -
DominicM said:
will this completely replace LOGOSRES: even on PC?
logosres: (and logosref: and logos4:) will always be available; this new http: link works by redirecting to logosres: (from our server), so it essentially "tricks" applications that refuse to support custom protocols by jumping through your default web browser (which does).
We may make the generation of http: links (instead of logosres:) the default, but there should always be a way to generate the corresponding logosres: link.
DominicM said:if its gonna be online only will need to rethink some of my documents
One downside is that it has to be online only; this will factor into our decision about whether to make http: or logores: the default.0 -
John Fidel said:
The only annoying aspect at this point is that it opens the browser with a redirect tab and a new redirect tab each time using Safari and Mt Lion latest updates.
We'll look into workarounds for this; unfortunately, it may be unavoidable. (Perhaps we could make the tab close itself, but most browsers these days prompt you with "The current page is trying to close the browser window; do you want to allow it?" which isn't any better.)
0 -
John Fidel said:
This works for me in Pages
Tried again. Constructed the link in TextEdit and pasted the whole thing into Pages, and the link worked. However, the constructed link did not work in TextEdit. However, pasting the link back into TextEdit from Pages did work.
Not sure I understand all this, but that's the way it worked for me [8-|]
0 -
Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:
logosres: (and logosref: and logos4:) will always be available; this new http: link works by redirecting to logosres: (from our server)
so as I read this LOGOSRES on PC will continue to work offline?
Never Deprive Anyone of Hope.. It Might Be ALL They Have
0 -
Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:
One downside is that it has to be online only; this will factor into our decision about whether to make http: or logores: the default.
Please don't make this default. It's not only the requirement for an internet connection that would make this a pain, but also the lag caused by the lookup, and the switching to a new application.
Regardless of whether it's the default, have you considered installing a very simple webserver on macs on an unused port that did the redirection locally?Something based on TNTnet or Web++? http://www.tntnet.org/ and http://konteck.github.com/wpp/
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
0 -
DominicM said:
so as I read this LOGOSRES on PC will continue to work offline?
Yes, but in the future Logos on PC might not product logosres links by default, and instead it would produce links that required an internet connection to work.
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
0 -
-
alabama24 said:
Any update on this Bradley? Anything you want us to try out?
Had forgotten about this thread. Thanks for revisiting it. Any news, Logos?0 -
alabama24 said:
Any update on this Bradley? Anything you want us to try out?
The feedback you already provided was very helpful.
This project is still in the pipeline.
0 -
Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:
Long-time Mac users probably know that it is not easy/possible to use logosres:, logos4:, etc. links from other applications (Pages, Keynote, Word for Mac, etc.).
Bradley do you think this is the reason for being unable to open resources in L5 using BW9 (Mac - no Virtual M.) "External Link Manager", while PC users are able to? here and here
Thanks for your expertise.
0 -
Anon said:
Sorry, I don't know enough about the Mac version of BibleWorks to even speculate about why external links might not work.
If you are running the native version ("no Virtual M."), I did note that their Mac page states that not everything is implemented yet; it seems possible that external links are one of those unimplemented features.
0 -
Thanks for your reply Bradley.
Bradley Grainger (Logos) said:If you are running the native version ("no Virtual M."), I did note that their Mac page states that not everything is implemented yet; it seems possible that external links are one of those unimplemented features.
It is implemented and works in opening web pages - tried the path in your OP and it opened Safari, but no redirect to Logos. Tried NB.Mick's link from his post (copy -paste into Nisus) and that worked. Don't have that resource but it brought up the preview. Cool!! [H]
From that post I'm understanding that "logosres" and "logosref" are unlikely to work with Mac, at least at this time. Is this correct?
Once again, thank you very much!!
0 -
Anon said:
From that post I'm understanding that "logosres" and "logosref" are unlikely to work with Mac, at least at this time. Is this correct?
Kind of, but not quite. The problem is that logosres doesn't work in most applications on the Mac. If you click on the logosres link in Jack's POST above, you will find that it works. This isn't a Logos problem… it is a problem with how OSX handles the link. The point of this thread was that Logos is working on a potential solution (by using a web browser as a bridge), but it isn't ready to be implemented fully yet.
EDIT: Try this one instead: logosres:esv;ref=BibleESV.Jn3.3;off=58
0 -
alabama24 said:Anon said:
From that post I'm understanding that "logosres" and "logosref" are unlikely to work with Mac, at least at this time. Is this correct?
Kind of, but not quite. The problem is that logosres doesn't work in most applications on the Mac. If you click on the logosres link in Jack's POST above, you will find that it works. This isn't a Logos problem… it is a problem with how OSX handles the link. The point of this thread was that Logos is working on a potential solution (by using a web browser as a bridge), but it isn't ready to be implemented fully yet.
EDIT: Try this one instead: logosres:esv;ref=BibleESV.Jn3.3;off=58
Thanks for the clarification alabama! Clicking on your link above works!! Looking forward to the OS X solution.
0 -
Bradley (or anyone else with the time and know how), it might be helpful as well to create a Word macro that would convert all logosres links in a Word document to the Mac compatible format.
0 -
Fr Devin Roza said:
Bradley (or anyone else with the time and know how), it might be helpful as well to create a Word macro that would convert all logosres links in a Word document to the Mac compatible format.
Interesting suggestion, but once converted would Word leave them alone? and recognize them as proper links?
0 -
At least on Windows the links work just fine in Word for Windows. If that is not the case on Mac, a macro could in theory go through a document that already exists and that has lots of Logos links, and automatically convert the hyperlinks to a Mac-friendly format.
0 -
Fr Devin Roza said:
At least on Windows the links work just fine in Word for Windows.
The logosres links don't work in Word for Mac.
0 -
alabama24 said:
The logosres links don't work in Word for Mac.
They do not work because Micro Sloft Word attempts to convert them into web links.
0 -
I want to share that I contacted technical support at Logos about this very issue over a year ago, and I was promised an answer. I followed up with the specific technical support person five or six times and my emails were unanswered. This unresponsiveness really casts a poor light on Logos' technical support. I will try this solution in Power Point for Mac and report back on whether it works. I'm really disappointed in the way this was handled by Logos!
0 -
-
I'm more and more disappointed in logos support.
0 -
James F. Joyner III said:
I'm more and more disappointed in logos support.
Why? Because one person dropped the ball, or something else? My guess is that the person you contacted didn't have a good answer (and should have said so).
0
