Dear fellow 'hackers' - a call for brainstorming solutions - timelines, parallel passages etc.

Dennis Parish said:

Point of Information for a new Logos 4 user: Where are the user created parallel text resources located on the web? (I can't locate any in the Files forum.)

That's because they can't be used in Logos 4, only in Libronix 3 (which is what MJ and many of us wants to see fixed). Since I wasn't here in the days of L3 (and can't use it since I'm on Mac), I don't know if her work used to be posted somewhere. If you have a copy of L3 installed, you could try looking at http://www.stilltruth.com/page/libronix_pbb_files, which is one site that has lots of L3 files posted. Looks like there are at least some timelines.

MJ. Smith said:

Do other users find the timelines and parallel text resource offerings inadequate?

Desperately so! I never use either. The timelines are a joke, and as for parallels, I still have to use my hardback. Peisker's Synopsis is probably one of my 5-10 most used books, but compared to it, L4 is like writing on stone tablets...

For starters, timelines and parallells should essentially be features, rather than resources. Parallels should have the equivalent of show differences and show base text in Text Comparison, and a simple click above one column should transform that into the base text. Texts should show up reasonably parallel, line by line, even if one source uses 50 lines and the other 10. And sympathetic highlighting should work as far as possible.

Furthermore, it should also be possible to compare non-Bible texts: the Western Mass to the Eastern Divine Liturgy; NT Canticles to Jewish prayers, the Quran to the Bible, and so on.

Actually, the more I think of it, the more I realize that what I really want is an improved, expanded and adaptable Text Comparison, that really can compare different texts, not just different translations. And where I can turn on and off note files and filters.

For timelines I'm dreaming about a multidimensional 'layer upon layer' approach without [chronological] beginning or end, where you can add or remove whatever you want: kings, prophets, wars, foreign rulers, Bible books, important events, important people, Bible translations, you name it. And zoom in and out, both in time -- getting more or less detail -- and in place -- going from world history down to the City of David or the tel at Megiddo. If Logos provided the framework and the most basic historical events, we could then create and share 'layers' according to our interests, whether they be the dating of the OT books according to various scholars or the crusader kings and battles.

For Biblical People I'm dreaming of an adaptation to the standard GEDCOM format, so that one could export to a normal genealogical program, do some work there, and then reimport. Or create a GEDCOM file elsewhere of e g the relationships between all those early rabbis, or the rulers of some ancient kingdom, and import it into Logos. Coming to think of it, there are several basic features of normal genealogical programs that Biblical People would profit from implementing.

Dennis Parish said:

could you help me complete and correct the following table? 

• As far as I know, the best source for L3 sentence diagrams is http://wiki.logos.com/Tools_and_Files_supplied_by_users#Sentence_Diagram_files.

• I believe L3 sentence diagrams can be imported into L4, if you have L3.

• Toolbars don't exist in L4.

• L4 PBs should rather say "conversion from .docx format is needed". Or, better still, " compilation from...".

• Reading plans cannot be imported into L4. I don't know about L3. They have nothing to do with topics.logos.com.

• Reading lists do, but they don't really belong in the chart. They're not imported like the other things are; they're an integral part of L4. Look at the ribbon on the Home Page and you'll find the most recently added/updated ones (if you haven't customized them away). And go to Tools > Reading Lists to see all of them. Topics.logos.com is just where they're created; you don't need to go there to see them. I don't know if they existed in L3.

TCBlack said:

Actually all that is needed is that you put the L3 diagrams in ... %my documents%/Libronix DLS/SentenceDiagrams

In what?

TCBlack said:

the way Windows defines a variable

Sorry, I thought you would remember by now -- at least after a nudge -- that I'm on Mac... [;)]

I actually said that in my first post above. Not knowing whether Dennis is on PC or Mac, I made a point of mentioning that L3 can't be used on Mac (at least not natively), and for the same reason I put in that if clause (didn't know about your shortcut). But if you know of a way to import L3 diagrams into L4Mac without using Windows, I'll be happy to know.

fgh said:

Sorry, I thought you would remember by now -- at least after a nudge -- that I'm on Mac...

I actually said that in my first post above.

Mark Barnes said:

Kenneth McGuire said:

The only datatype information I have found is for the Bible type (or variants on it).  If you are building personal books, it would be helpful to have a list of what all the available tags are.

There's several long lists of datatypes linked from the PB article, but you have to scroll up to the "See also" box to find them. I'll update the Wiki to make them more obvious.

I knew the list of datatypes was there, but as you said, not obvious...  What I want is the interface information for those types so calls are formatted correctly.  For BookOfConcord, I have found things that work for all but the oecumenical creeds and the catechisms.  Sometime I will try what you suggest with clipboard.  For what it is worth, I have generally used colons as the separator at all levels...  And don't know if this is a Logos or Fortress issue, but the Kolb/Wengert could use much better tagging...

fgh said:

For starters, timelines and parallells should
essentially be features, rather than resources. Parallels should have
the equivalent of show differences andshow base text in
Text Comparison, and a simple click above one column should transform
that into the base text. Texts should show up reasonably parallel, line
by line, even if one source uses 50 lines and the other 10. And
sympathetic highlighting should work as far as possible.

Furthermore, it should also be possible to compare non-Bible texts:
the Western Mass to the Eastern Divine Liturgy; NT Canticles to Jewish
prayers, the Quran to the Bible, and so on.

Actually, the more I think of it, the more I realize that what I
really want is an improved, expanded and adaptable Text Comparison, that
really can compare different texts, not just different translations.
And where I can turn on and off note files and filters.

YES! The current capabilities make my job much more difficult than it could be.  I am finding a lot of limitations when I am trying to highlight the synoptic gospels in NA27 (http://community.logos.com/forums/p/43938/327527.aspx#327527 ).  I would like multiple windows of NA27 to be able to track together so if I go to Mark 14:22 in one window, for example, my NA27 window that is open to Matthew will go to Matt 26:26–29 and my NA27 window that is open to Luke will move to Luke 22:18–20.  I also would like my personal book with a reconstruction of Q to jump to the appropriate passage when I navigate there in Matthew or Luke.  And it would be nice if I didn't have to highlight all the similarities myself.  I wish Logos could tell me when a word is identical in one gospel to another.  Plus Aland's synopsis is difficult to work with.  If I link it to a window of NA27, when I go to a passage in NA27, if I want to see farther down on the page in Aland and I scroll down it will switch my linked NA27 window to Matthew's version when I may have been using it to see Mark's or Luke's version.