MySword

Mini Users Guide

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Category: About MySword

Published on Thursday, 07 April 2011 00:00

Written by Admin

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Here is a Mini User's Guide for MySword (last update: 15 March 2012).

1. The Main User Interface
2. Full Screen Mode
3. Other Navigation Shortcuts
4. The Editor
5. Other MySword Textile Wiki Tags
6. Searching

The Main User Interface

The screen shot below shows the Bible View with the Bible View Buttons Bar (#1) on top and the Master Buttons Bar (#2) on the bottom displayed using Honeycomb Tablet but shrunk to 60% so that it can fit well in this web page (in your Android Phone, you will need to scroll the two bars by swipe left/right gestures to see all the buttons):

(The above Honeycomb Dark Holographic theme is only available in MySword 3.0 and up running on Honeycomb and up. Old versions of MySword and Android use the Default theme.)

The following describe each:

1. Bible View Buttons Bar
   • Used to navigate the Bible(s).
   • The Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes and Journal/Book Views have similar Top Buttons Bar, albeit with less buttons.
2. Master Buttons Bar (Bottom Button Bar)
   • Used to execute different general functions not specific to the Bible View (or Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes and Journal/Book Views) like for example Go Back (history), Go Forward (history), Menu, Search, etc.
   • This is present in all five views: Bible, Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes and Journal/Book Views.
3. Module Type/View Selector
   • Used to switch to a different Module Type or View (Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes and Journal/Book).
4. Bible Module or Translation Selector
   • Aside from regular Bibles like KJV, ISV, NET, etc, there are two additional entries at the end: Compare and Parallel. The screen shot above shows a sample Parallel view.
   • The Commentary, Dictionary and Journal/Book Views have similar button for selecting a specific Commentary, Dictionary or Journal/Book, respectively.
5. Go to Previous Chapter/Verse
   • Go to the previous chapter for non-Compare; go to the previous verse for Compare.
6. Verse Selector
   • Go to a specific verse. This opens another window that allows you to select the Book, chapter and verse number.
   • Long tapping this will show a dialog box that will allow you to type the verse directly which also allows abbreviations, e.g. 1Jn1 for 1 John 1, Pr4.7 for Prov 4:7 (this is only available for MySword 3.0 and up)
   • Note that the Bible, Commentary and Personal Notes are automatically synchronized.
   • The Commentary and Notes Views also have this. The Dictionary View have a Word Selector while the Journal/Book has a Topic Selector.
7. Go to Next Chapter/Verse
   • Go to the next chapter for non-Compare; go to the next verse for Compare.
8. Favorite 6 Translation Shortcuts
   • This is a one click/tap away to a specific translation (or Compare/Parallel) which can be very useful as the Bible Module/Translation Selector (#4) requires two clicks/taps.
   • Note that its usefulness is increased if you arrange the Bible View Buttons.
   • To change the shortcut, long press/tap the button and a list will show from which you can select. After selecting a new one, the new translation will automatically be selected.
   • Note that in the old version of MySword, there are only 4 of these buttons but was later upgraded to 6 so you may need to rearrange the buttons so that they will all be together.
9. Switch to Parallel View
• Use this to switch to Parallel View and select the Bible translations you want to be shown in parallel. The screen shot above shows 3 Bible translations.
• Note that this is a Premium feature. The Free version of MySword has a demo that allows the user to see the Parallel feature in action but it is only limited to the first chapters of every book of the Bible.
10. Top 4 Bookmarks Shortcuts
• Use this to automatically go to your bookmark.
• These automatically synchronizes with the bookmarks you managed using the Bookmark button (#16). So you will have to use the Manage Bookmark button (#16) so change the bookmarks.
• Note that in the old version of MySword, there are only 2 of these buttons but was later upgraded to 4 so you may need to rearrange the buttons so that they will all be together.
11. Notes Indicator
    • The notes icon indicate that you have some personal notes on this verse.
    • Clicking/tapping it will automatically bring you to the Personal Notes View.
12. Verse Link Select
    • The Verse Number Link at the beginning of the verse is clickable/tappable to make that verse the current verse. Notice that the text in the Verse Selector (#6) will also automatically change.
    • This is useful for Comparison, adding Bookmark, Highlight, Personal Notes, etc.
    • In the screen shot above, the currently selected verse is verse 4 that is why the Verse Selector button shows Joh 1:4.
13. Strong's Number Link
    • Click/tap to go to the Dictionary View showing the entry for the Strong's number.
    • Note that a Strong's Dictionary must be downloaded and placed into the Modules Path (which can be done using Menu->More->Download Modules) so that this feature can be used.
    • The Strong_Lite Dictionary module is actually a combination of BDB, Thayer and Strong's Dictionaries.
    • There are also other types of Link not illustrated above:
    • Translators'/Reference Notes Link - tapping this will show the translators' notes in a popup window.
    • Bible Link - normally found in Commentaries and Books and also can be added to your Personal Notes and Journals. Tapping this will show the verse in the Bible view.
    • Commentary Link, Dictionary Link and Journal Link - can be added in your Personal Notes and Journals
14. Go Back History
    • Use one click/tap to go one step back; use long click/tap to show a list from which you can select.
    • You can also use the Back button of the Android device.
15. Go Forward History
    • Use one click/tap to go one step forward (in case you had gone back); use long click/tap to show a list from which you can select.
16. Manage Bookmarks/Go to Bookmark
    • You can use this to add the current verse to the list of Bookmarks, delete an existing Bookmark, or go to a Bookmark.
17. Highlight
    • You can use this to highlight the current verse or range of verses, hide/show the highlights, or remove the current highlight for a verse or range of verses.
    • This is only applicable to the Bible View.
18. Search
    • Use this to perform keyword search on Bible, Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes or Book/Journal.
    • You can also just use the Search hardware button of your Android device.
19. Menu
    • Shortcut to go to the Menu.
    • You can also just use the Menu hardware button of your Android device.
20. Go to Bible Shortcut
    • This is a one click/tap away to the Bible View.
21. Go to Commentary Shortcut
    • This is a one click/tap away to the Commentary View.
22. Go to Dictionary Shortcut
    • This is a one click/tap away to the Dictionary View.
23. Go to Personal Notes Shortcut
    • This is a one click/tap away to the Personal Notes View.
24. Go to Journal/Book Shortcut
    • This is a one click/tap away to the Journal/Book View.
25. Share
• Use this to share a verse or range of verses to others via Messaging services like SMS or Email.
• This is a Premium feature.
26. Page Up/Down
    • Use this to move the page up and down.
27. Preferences
• Opens the Preferences window. The other alternative is to use the Menu->Preferences.
28. Exit
• Instead of using the Menu->More->Exit, this is a single tap shortcut. An dialog box asking for your confirmation will popup.
29. Scrollable View
• The Bible, Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes and Journal/Book Views' content pages are scrollable. You can just use your fingers and swipe up and down.

Full Screen Mode

MySword supports Full Screen mode in the Main Views (Bible, Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes and Journal/Book Views) as well as the Search Window.

• You can use the Menu->Preferences->Toggle Full screen to switch between the Normal and Full Screen mode.
• Also, you can just double tap the Bible, Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes or Journal/Book contents (take care not to tap any hyperlink as it will be activated also; preferably double tap blank portions) to toggle between views.
• In Full Screen Mode, you can temporarily show/hide the Button bars, Top (#1) and Bottom (#2), by single tapping the screen (again, take care not to tap any hyperlink).
• In case there are so many links like the case of KJV with Strong's numbers, you can short-swipe left or right (about 33 to 50 pixels long) to show/hide the Button bars.

Other Navigation Shortcuts

Here are other navigation shortcuts:

1. Go to Previous/Next Chapter/Verse
   • Long swipe left or right (150 pixels or more in one second) on the contents.
2. Volume Control Up/Down
   • To scroll one page up/down the contents in Bible, Commentary, Dictionary, Personal Notes, Journal/Book, Search Results and Edit Text box of Add/Edit Personal Notes or Add/Edit Journal Entry.
3. Hardware Search button
   • Open Search Window

The Editor

The Editor is used for Personal Notes (Verse Notes) or Journal Entries. Currently, Android do not provide a complete WYSIWYG HTML Editor so MySword used a modified version of Textile Wiki (instead of pure HTML tags which is more cumbersome to edit; textile wiki simplify markup tags using single symbols).

The screen shot below shows the Journal Entry Editor with the editing buttons on top and the bottom displayed using Honeycomb Tablet but shrunk to 60% so that it can fit well in this web page (in your Android Phone, you will need to scroll the top bar by swipe left/right gestures to see all the buttons):

(The above Honeycomb Light Holographic theme is only available in MySword 3.0 and up running on Honeycomb and up. Old versions of MySword and Android use the Default theme.)

The following describe each with some sample Textile wiki and the rendered version:

1. Bold
   • The bold markup in Textile wiki is the asterisk (*).
   • Select a text, then tap the Bold button to mark up it as bold. If you do not select a text, the markup characters (*) will be inserted where the cursor/caret is and the caret moved in between for you to type the text.
   • This is in *bold*. => This is in bold.
2. Italic
   • The italic markup in Textile wiki is the underscore (_).
   • This is in _italic_. => This is in italic.
   • This is in *bold and _italic_*. => This is in bold and italic.
3. Underline
   • The underline markup in Textile wiki is the plus (+).
   • This is *underlined*. => This is underlined.
   • This is in *bold and _italic and +underlined+_*. => This is in bold and italic and underlined.
4. Copy
   • Copy the current text selection to the clipboard.
   • Honeycomb and up versions with physical keyboards can also use Ctrl-C (tested only with ASUS Slider).
5. Paste
   • Paste the current text contents of the clipboard into the editor where the cursor/caret is located.
   • Honeycomb and up versions with physical keyboards can also use Ctrl-V (tested only with ASUS Slider).
6. Bullets
   • Creates a bulleted list. The Textile wiki markup is an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the line (with a space separator).
   • Nesting is done by having two or more * or # at the beginning.
   • * This is one item in the list. =>  • This is one item in the list.
7. Numbers
   • Creates a numbered list. The Textile wiki markup is a sharp (#) at the beginning of the line (with a space separator).
   • Nesting is done by having two or more * or # at the beginning.
   • # This is one item in the list. =>  1. This is one item in the list.
8. Image
   • Open the Image Manager where you can upload an image to the Journal database, select an image to insert into the Journal Entry or delete an image from the Journal database.
   • This is not supported by Personal/Verse Notes Editor.
9. Insert Link
   • The markup for the links is [[ and ]]. For the Free version of MySword, these mark up characters are inserted where the cursor/caret is and the caret automatically placed at in between.
   • Example Bible verse link: [[Joh 3:16]]
   • Example Strong's number link: [[H1]], [[G25]]
   • Example Commentary entry link: [[c JFB 2Co 8:1]]
   • Example Dictionary entry link: [[d Morrish Abba]]
   • Example Notes entry link: [[n Gen 1:1]]
   • Example Book entry link: [[j Wight-Manners Tent Dwellings]]
   • Example Journal entry link (to the same Journal): [[j 20120216-1|MySword 3 Features]]
   • Example Journal entry link (to other Journal): [[j 4-MyNotes 20120216-1|4-MyNotes: MySword 3 Features]]
   • The Premium version of MySword makes the insertion of links a lot easier through a dialog chooser of what type of link to insert, what module and what verse, word or topic from the module. However, this feature is also available only in the Journal Editor (not in Personal Notes Editor) for the Free version of MySword.
   • After you selected a Bible verse for Bible link, a dialog is shown for you to choose what to do with the selected verse, insert either:
   • Link
   • Link verse range
   • Verse with text
   • Verse range with text
   • Verse compare
   • For other module types a link is automatically created.
10. Search
    • This is a Premium version feature of MySword that allows you to perform searches without leaving the Editor. However, this feature is also available only in the Journal Editor (not in Personal Notes Editor) for the Free version of MySword.
    • A dialog will be shown for you to choose what type of module to search after which the specific Module Search window is shown.
    • In the search results list, if you tap a result link (or select the Go to selected button) the search will exit and will show a dialog of what to do with the selected result item for Bible search result similar to Insert Link above. For other module types a link is automatically created.
11. Mini Bible Viewer
    • This is a Premium version feature of MySword. This will open a simple Bible viewer where you can select the translation you want, navigate to a verse and copy text to clipboard for later pasting into the Editor. This will help you not leave the Editor in case you want to locate a Bible verse through navigation (not the Search function) then copy and paste verses into the Editor.
12. Save without Exit
    • Save the edited text without leaving the Editor. This will also automatically hide the virtual keyboard.
13. Hide Virtual Keyboard
    • Hide the virtual keyboard is very useful if you want to see more lines of text of your content.
    • Note that there is also a Menu->Toggle Full screen to enable you to see more lines but at the sacrifice of hiding also the top and bottom button bars.
14. Preview
    • Shows a preview of the edited content in HTML rendered form. It is also available in the Menu.
15. Highlight
    • Highlights a selected text or inserts highlight markup tags in case no text is selected. This will show the Insert Highlight window similar to the one used by the Main window for you to select from.
    • Note that the highlight is dependent on the Color Theme chosen so it will vary depending on the current theme.
    • The markup is a MySword extension to Textile wiki using %cssclassname text% format.
    • This is %h1 highlighted%. => This is highlighted.
16. Undo
    • This is a Premium version feature available in MySword 3.0 and up.
    • Honeycomb and up versions with physical keyboards can also use Ctrl-Z (tested only with ASUS Slider).
17. Redo
    • This is a Premium version feature available in MySword 3.0 and up.
    • Honeycomb and up versions with physical keyboards can also use Ctrl-Y (tested only with ASUS Slider).
18. Cut
    • This new feature is available in MySword 3.0 and up.
    • Honeycomb and up versions with physical keyboards can also use Ctrl-X (tested only with ASUS Slider).
19. Save with Exit
    • Save the edited text then exit the Editor.
20. Cancel Edits
    • Exit the Editor without saving the updates. In case there are no updates, the Editor will immediately close. But if there are any updates, there will be a confirmation dialog if you want to discard the changes.
21. Scroll Up
    • Scrolls the cursor/caret position in Editor's text content up.
    • Long tap for scroll to the top-most.
22. Scroll Down
    • Scrolls the cursor/caret position in Editor's text content down.
    • Long tap for scroll to the bottom-most.

Other MySword Textile Wiki Tags

The following are the other Textile wiki tags available to MySword Editor:

1. Heading tags (h1 to h6)
• Use the hn. text format where n is a number from 1 to 6.
• Example: h1. This is in heading 1.
2. Paragraphs
• All lines not beginning with # or * are HTML paragraphs. Two paragraphs are separated by one extra empty line.
3. Breaks
• A paragraph can have an HTML break if there is no empty line separator between two lines.
4. Paragraphs inside bulletted or numbered lists
• Using a hyphen (-) after the list tags (* or #).
• *- This will add a paragraph after the previous bullet item where the paragraph is still inside that list item.
• This is a special extension of MySword to Textile wiki.
5. Table
• Simple table support using pipes where the first row is always considered the header and is styled appropriately (bold and centered).
• You can also apply text alignment of left, center and right by placing <, = and > after the pipe, respectively. For example, Data 2 and Data 4 are right aligned:
  | _Col 1_ | _Col 2_ |
  | Data 1 |> Data 2|
  | Data 3 |> Data 4| 

Searching

There are two types of search supported by MySword: Default/Ordinary Search and FTS (full-text search):

1. The Default/Ordinary Search is simply a contains all the strings/words type of search. That means ear will also match hear, tears and ears. There is no any word search feature.
2. The FTS is a word stem (root) type of search similar to the one used by search engines like Google. For example, ear will also match ears but not hear. Consequently, all stems are prefixes only. FTS is a lot faster than the Default search because the FTS is indexed while the Default is not. The Default search will check all records at the database engine level (filtered by the verse range in Bible and Commentaries) while FTS will use the FTS index so few records are accessed.

FTS is automatically enabled for Journals and Books but is optional for encrypted modules and is a Premium Feature (donation activated) for other modules.

What are available to the Default Search:

1. Contains any of the keywords (prefix, suffix or infix) at any position. E.g.:
   • ear knowfor Proverbs NET will give:
     • Pro 1:7 Fearing the LORD is the beginning of moral knowledge...
     • ...
     • Pro 23:12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge.
     • ...
   • acquire wisdomwill give 5 items:
     • Pro 4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak.
     • Pro 4:7 Wisdom is supreme - so acquire wisdom, and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding!
     • Pro 16:16 How much better it is to acquire wisdom than gold; to acquire understanding is more desirable than silver.
     • Pro 19:8 The one who acquires wisdom loves himself; the one who preserves understanding will prosper.
     • Pro 23:23 Acquire truth and do not sell it - wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.
2. Phrase search where keywords are enclosed in double quotes. E.g.:
   • "acquire wisdom"for Proverbs NET will only give 3 items:
     • Pro 4:5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak.
     • Pro 4:7 Wisdom is supreme - so acquire wisdom, and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding!
     • Pro 16:16 How much better it is to acquire wisdom than gold; to acquire understanding is more desirable than silver.
3. There is no Any keyword search (Boolean OR).
4. There is no exact phrase/word as the Phrase search can match the suffix of a beginning word or prefix of the ending word.
5. Punctuators between keywords in a phrase search are not ignored.
   • "wisdom and" will not match ... wisdom! And fools...

What are available to the FTS Search:

1. Root word kind of search just like the search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc) reducing the need to use Boolean OR:
   • The search key faithful will also match faith, faithful and faithfulness because they are all reduced to the word stem faith (by the Porter stemmer) but not faithless (because of a different stem)
   • The Porter stemmer is just an English approximation though and is not perfect. The search key move will not match moving nor movement, it will only match move, moved and moves.
2. All search are prefix root only search so that search key ear will not match bear or hear.
3. "Phrase search" is better as in between punctuators are now ignored. But note that it is still not an exact search due to word stemming.
4. Boolean OR is supported (must be capitalized in order to distinguish from search key or).
   • move OR moving will match: move, moves, moved and moving
   • "drink water" OR "drank water" OR "drunk water" will do phrase match of any of those variants.
   • Parenthesized search for combining OR and the default AND (but the highlighter do not yet support this so nothing might be displayed). The above can also be written as (drink OR drank OR drunk) water.
5. Proximity/nearness search
   • great NEAR faith will match those words (plus those with similar stems) where there are zero up to 10 words between them.
   • great NEAR/2 faith will match only those where there are zero up to 2 words between them.
6. Word exclusion, NOT word using -
   • drunk -water will match those with the word drunk but must not contain water.

Creating FTS Index

It will take around 1 minute to 5 minutes to build the Bible FTS index depending on the speed of the Android device and the size of the module. Also note that building an FTS index will require more than double the original module size so make sure the SD card has sufficient space.

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