Sharing Biblical Hebrew Text Problem

Rob Wilson
Rob Wilson Member Posts: 68
edited November 20 in English Forum

I am using Biblical Hebrew Words & Lemmas with several people who use different "platforms".

I use Windows - Logos 7 - Biblical Hebrew,

Another uses Mac - Accordance (but most of their actual Hebrew use regards Modern Hebrew)

Another uses AlephBoard - 2 variants),

2 others use Linux with Hebrew Fonts, etc.

It seems there are at least 7 different Keyboard "Schemes/Maps/Keyboards", etc.

Consequentially sometimes it seems impossible to communicate.

Is there one "Keyboard Map" (I realize this seems an archaic term) recommended (or conversion Macros, etc.) that anyone recommends to share Biblical Hebrew Letter combinations?

Comments

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick Member, MVP Posts: 15,834 ✭✭✭

    It seems there are at least 7 different Keyboard "Schemes/Maps/Keyboards", etc.

    Consequentially sometimes it seems impossible to communicate.

    Sorry, I'm not really into Hebrew, but I try to clarify for mayself (possibly others as well) what you are aiming at. 

    Is it transliterations? (some write checed, others hesed, others much different latin characters with or without diacritical marks to express a transliteration of the same Hebrew word - but this is way beyond the computer-relevant OS/application/font issues)

    Or is it keyboard maps (you hit maybe CTRL-A to produce a Hebrew Aleph character, someone else may hit Shift-F7 to produce the same - which will be the case, but I don't see the immediate issue since an Aleph is an Aleph and looks like an Aleph regardless of which key you pressed to make it look so, or whether you simply inserted it with a copy/paste move or a tool like Logos' Shibboleth. Sharing the Hebrew text should not be an issue.)

    Or is it fonts, so your Aleph looks like an Aleph, but your friend sends over a document which should contain an Aleph but you only see an A or a slash with a number behind it or something else idiosyncratic - and only if you would install and use a certain font, the Aleph looks like an Aleph again (if so: then the solution is for all of you to use Unicode fonts instead of outdated non-unicode fonts. And in this case there are some macros that may help. However, it still may be the case that actually typing those fonts on an English keyboard will require different keystrokes to come to the same character) 

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • Rob Wilson
    Rob Wilson Member Posts: 68

    Not transliterations ...

    Sharing Hebrew text (and using what was shared) is the issue.

     

    Your other points apply:

    "Keyboard Maps" seem to be the main issue.

    Fonts are a minor issue but are also related

     

    Logos, SBL (Sil), SBL (Tiro), DavkaWriter, Hebrew QWERTY, Hebrew Fonts that map keys differently (JCL David), etc. are some examples.

     

    If we found one thing we could all use, it would be much more productive for each of us.

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member, MVP Posts: 4,636

    the solution is for all of you to use Unicode fonts instead of outdated non-unicode fonts

    I'd start with what Mick recommended, as addressing that may resolve some other issues.

    I'd think the important issue would be that everyone be able to read what someone else has written (which can be addressed by via using Unicode fonts which will be able to display the proper characters, regardless of operating system). Once you get to that point, it might not matter what keystroke someone had to use to generate a specific Hebrew character.

    If your group still has issues after that with sharing Hebrew text, then those can be dealt with specifically, with the certainty that it is no longer a font issue.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Rob Wilson
    Rob Wilson Member Posts: 68

    Best "First Step" - I'd agree.  Thanks!

    I'll re-post if I determine with that there is another issue.

  • David Thomas
    David Thomas Member Posts: 3,240

    Are you familiar with Shibboleth? It is a utility developed by Logos that is separate from Logos Bible Software and is FREE so any of your discussion group can generate Hebrew words in Unicode and copy/paste/share with the rest of the group.

    https://www.logos.com/shibboleth

    Making Disciples!  Logos Ecosystem = Logos10 on Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Win11), Android app on tablet, FSB on iPhone, Proclaim (Proclaim Remote on Fire Tablet) &  FaithlifeTV via Connect subscription.

  • Rob Wilson
    Rob Wilson Member Posts: 68

    Thanks!

    No, I wasn't familiar.

    I sent a query to ask if it's compatible with Linux.  I'll try it soon.

  • Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)
    Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :) Member Posts: 23,113 ✭✭✭

    I sent a query to ask if it's compatible with Linux.

    Shibboleth can be used on Windows for unicode encoding of accented Hebrew text (copy and paste into LibreOffice document), which can be sent to Linux and mac OS for editing using LibreOffice with complex text layout (CTL) enabled.

    Shibboleth 0.9b => https://www.logos.com/shibboleth was released on 28 Mar 2011 

    Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile => http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24872 lists several versions of Windows. Shibboleth click once application also runs OK in Windows 10 with complete .NET Framework 4 (e.g. Logos application installed).

    Linux.com thread has several suggestions => https://www.linux.com/answers/can-i-run-net-framework-linux that includes mono and wine

    Microsoft acquired Xamarin (mono project) => https://www.xamarin.com/microsoft

    Tried using mono-complete on Linux Mint 18.1

    mono shibboleth.application

    Cannot open assembly 'shibboleth.application': File does not contain a valid CIL image

    Linux Help has Wine 1.8 installation steps for ubuntu, Linux Mint, ... => https://www.linuxhelp.com/install-wine-1-8-ubuntu/ so tried

    wine shibboleth.application

    Wine prompted for Mono and Gecko installations, but threw error about "Bad EXE format for" shibboleth.application

    Keep Smiling [:)]

  • Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)
    Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :) Member Posts: 23,113 ✭✭✭

    wine shibboleth.application

    Wine prompted for Mono and Gecko installations, but threw error about "Bad EXE format for" shibboleth.application

    Ubuntu forum thread => https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1672458 provided idea to look for shibboleth.exe

    On Windows, the ClickOnce shibboleth.application causes folders to be created in local %APPDATA% so copied folder with shibboleth,exe

    wine shibboleth.exe

    has many informational messages, but throws error "The entry point method could not be loaded" so my attempt at running shibboleth on Linux Mint did not work.

    In contract, the idea of creating a complex text layout LibreOffice document on Windows allows document editing on Linux and mac OS (personally default to SBL BibLit font that includes Hebrew, Greek, and Latin unicode along with English). Shibboleth shows keystrokes, which can be helpful to see unicode variations that look the same on screen, but are a bit different:

    LibreOffice Writer can insert special characters, which include unicode characters and accents:

    Logos Support => https://www.logos.com/support/logos6/windows/missing-fonts has links to Fonts. SBL link => https://www.sbl-site.org/educational/BiblicalFonts_FAQ.aspx includes SBL BibLit (combined SBL Hebrew and SBL Greek into one font)

    Keep Smiling [:)]