SUGG: clearer format for on/off Copy Bible Verses styles

Ken F Hill

I would be easier for me if the copy Bible verse formatting codes (explained at http://wiki.logos.com/Copy_Bible_Verses#Copy_Bible_Verses_Syntax) were boolean where they are either on or off. The way it is now, you have to delete a line if you do not want that property. But if you later decide you want it back, you have to go to the help or to the wiki to find the list of codes. This has happened to me more than once. If this were to be implemented, it would make more sense to change the some of the properties (eg, %NoRedLetter to RedLetter -- because it would be easier to see that "on" means red letter and "off" means no red letter). See below for an example of what it might look like with the current property names and below that for changed property names. I would not care if a space separated the property from its state or if an equal sign was used.

=== current property names ===
%NoCharFormatting on
%NoParFormatting on
%NoRedLetter on
%NoFootnotes on
%NoCitation on
%UseBibleParagraphs on
%CopyAllText on

=== changed property names ===
%CharFormatting off
%ParFormatting off
%RedLetter off
%Footnotes off
%Citation off
%UseBibleParagraphs on
%CopyAllText on

Rich DeRuiter

Another way to accomplish the same goal would be to have a "comment" character. That way we could "comment out" a command (effectively turning it off), for testing, or temporarily. (Most simple script languages use a semi-colon at the beginning of a line to indicate that the line should be ignored by the program running the script.) And this might be easier to accomplish than adding parameters (on/off) to the current command set. The current set is simple (all the formatting is on, unless you turn it off), it's just not easy to remember, since most of us don't spend a lot of time fiddling with the codes.

A possible work-around might be to open a style you're about to change for editing, copy all the codes, cancel and create a new style with a new name (e.g. "MyStyle01" or even "MyStyle_copy"), then if you like it, change the name of your old one (e.g. "MyStyle_old), and rename your new style to your preferred name (e.g. "MyStyle). That way you're keeping a copy of your work, while still trying out some new options. If you don't use your old style for a few months, you can always delete it later, or not, they don't use up much space.