Verse Search vs. Go To Box
Yesterday I reiterated a previous post recommending the use of the Go To Box to get to the verse you want, rather than doing a verse search for a particular set of verses. A user left a comment saying that he had tried entering Luke 1:1-3 in the Go To Box and had gotten an error message. He then said something about Accordance not letting him "search" for more than one verse. Let me therefore clarify the relationship between the search entry box at the top of the Search window and the Go To Box at the bottom right.
The search entry box at the top of the window is where you specify the words or verses you wish to "find." If the Search for radio button is set to verses, the Search window will only display those verses which you enter at the top of the window. If you enter Luke 1:1-3 and click OK, the text display pane at the bottom of the window will only display those three verses and nothing else. If you enter an asterisk and click OK, the text display pane will show the entire text of the Bible from beginning to end.
The Go To Box at the bottom of the window is a navigation tool. It lets you quickly jump to any verse which is currently displayed in the text pane. If you've done a search at the top of the window for Luke 1:1-3, and you then enter Romans in the Go To Box, Accordance can't jump to Romans because Romans is not currently displayed in the window. All it can do is scroll to the verse which is nearest to Romans, which in this case would be Luke 1:3. This is why I recommend leaving the verse search set to the asterisk and then using the Go To Box to get around. By keeping the entire text of the Bible displayed in the window, you'll always be able to navigate to any verse by entering it in the Go To Box.
Because the Go To Box is a navigation tool rather than a means of doing a "search," it can only accept a single verse. The user who entered Luke 1:1-3 in the Go To Box unwittingly told Accordance to scroll to three verses at the same time, so Accordance returned an error message. If he had just entered Luke 1:1, Accordance would have jumped to that verse, and he would have seen verses 2 and 3 as well.
I've probably written way too much to clear up a minor misunderstanding, so let me see if I can encapsulate the distinction I am trying to make:
Verse Search: Entered at the top of the window. Accepts any range of verses. Changes what verses are displayed in the window.
Go To Box: Entered at the bottom of the window. Accepts only one verse (though you can simply enter a book or chapter to go to the first verse of that book or chapter). Does not change what verses are displayed in the window; Simply scrolls to the verse which has been entered.
# posted by David Lang @ 8:33 AM
