Accordance Blog: Accordance 7.1 Available for Download

We're pleased to announce the release of a free update to Accordance 7. Accordance 7.1 features a number of new enhancements—so many, in fact, that it's probably false modesty on our parts to label this a point-one release. New features include:

General

Spell checking in Edit windows.
Citation page in Preferences allows the user to set specific options for copying as a citation.
The AccUpdater widget can now automatically download and install some module updates.
Pressing option when adding a new Tool or User Notes pane adds it to the top row.
Pressing option when opening the Tool browser opens all levels for the article at the top of the pane.
Edit window Find and replace can now be limited to Latin characters.
The HITS dialog box now offers the options of further definition.
Command right and left arrow keys move the cursor to the beginning or end of the line.

Original language

The Construct window supports the HITS, COUNT, and Character items, and allows searching in both directions.
A new Character palette identifies and enters all the special characters in the Accordance fonts.
Syriac text is displayed and searched using Peshitta font, and supported throughout the program like Hebrew.
The Parsing window is displayed in columns.
Additional Hebrew tags are added for the verbs in the Samaritan Pentateuch.
Option to hide the spaces in the text display (intended for uncial manuscripts such as Vaticanus).
Entry of Hebrew tags now allows some details, such as those for gender, to be set without specifying another detail first.
Automatic entry of diacritical marks is supported in Rosetta, Sylvanus and Peshitta.

Note: A necessary update to the Preference files makes them incompatible with version 7.0.x. If you want to be able to go back to an earlier version please make a backup of the user/Library/Preferences/Accordance Preferences folder. Saved windows including the Timeline or the Parsing windows are also not backwards compatible.

I'll describe some of these features in greater detail in upcoming posts. In the meantime, you can download the update here and begin playing with all the new features today.

# posted by David Lang @ 9:13 AM

Comments:

Nice update, and thanks to Accordance for continuing to improve this program, so often without cost to existing users!

AccUpdater widget, and the related work which must have been done on the web site, finally begins to allow updating of *some* modules, instead of just telling us what we don't have. This is a very positive step. So far, it is only a small step, functionally, as most of the modules are *not* available for downloadable update. Please keep moving in this direction! AccUpdater reports that there are numerous modules which have updates which are only available on CD-ROMs that I have never purchases -- my older versions were from some other CD. Making the updates all available online would resolve this we-have-an-update-but-you-can't-have-it strangeness.

Thanks again!

-- Alan Houtzer

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Nov 15, 09:47:00 AM

Great release! You folks continue to do a great job keeping Accordance updated and stable. Way to go! Have fun at ETS, btw.

# posted by

Jeremy Archer : Wed Nov 15, 01:08:00 PM

Alan:

Currently, the official policy of determining which modules will be able to be updated with the widget is as follows: If the module has been updated since it was released on a "now current" CD, we will post it online for easy updating. This enables the users to make sure they always have the latest versions of modules that come on the latest CDs. For example, if we were to publish the CD Musical Chronicles of David (not a real CD, don't count this as a rumor!) which contained "Musical Analyses 1.0", but at some point we updates that module to 1.1, you'd be able to update that module easily with the widget. Thats because the Musical Chronicles CD would be a "currently released" CD, yet doesn't have the latest versions of all the modules.

Sorry, thats a very longwinded answer, but I hope it makes sense (my mind is a bit fried today).

Unfortunately, due to the recent release of 7.1 and the AccUpdater 2.0, this policy hasn't been fully implemented yet, so give us a bit of time to get all of the modules that fit that criteria available.

# posted by

Joel Brown : Thu Nov 16, 10:50:00 PM

Joel:

Thanks for the response. Here is one -- just one of several -- example of the odd situation that the CD-only policy puts in today. AccUpdater says that my NIV-G/K module is version 1.0 and that a version 1.1 is available only by getting a Zondervan Essentials CD-ROM. I have never had a Zondervan Essentials CD-ROM. I originally got NIV-G/K from your Bible unlock CD, or some libriary that I ordered when I first bought Accordance, but I have never bought Zondervan. So it appears that there is an updated version of a module, but I cnnot get it unless I pay way-too-much for another CD (Zondervan) that I don't want. Same is true for the Bible Difficulties module (claims to be available from Zondervan Personal Growth CD, which I have never had), NIV Commentary (Zondervan Essentials -- never had it), NIV Concordance (Zondervan essentials), Bible Words (Z'vzn Pers. Growth), NIV Dictionary (Z'van Essentials), ....

There is a myriad of other modules that have updates that are available on Bible Unlock or Accordance Library, which I probably actually did buy (how would I remember, anyway?).

The answer is just this: put them all on the internet for downloading updates. Anything less is just annoying.

Again, this is a good first step. It finally eliminated the barrier that was keeping me from getting teh updated HCSB. I hope it has opened the way for others to do beter bible study as well.

Thanks.

# posted by

Anonymous : Sat Nov 18, 10:48:00 AM