Compare Texts feature question

[Sean R.]

I appreciate the Compare Texts feature. The ability to quickly and graphically note the differences between two translations has proven helpful. But what about comparing more than two texts?

 

I actually haven't needed to compare more than two texts so far since I've been using Accordance. Yesterday, however, I watched a short video that highlighted some of the features of Logos. One feature was the ability to graphically compare texts. In the video, eight or more texts were being compared at the same time. "Oh, I can do that in Accordance," I thought. But when I opened multiple texts (NIV, NKJV, NET, and ESV) I discovered that the Compare Texts feature only compared two of the open texts rather than all four.

 

Is there a way to compare more than two texts in Accordance?

[Helen Brown]

The fundamental reason why Accordance compares only two texts is that it compares them in both directions. It highlights the differences in each text. The only way to compare multiple texts is to designate one as the reference and highlight the differences from the reference in each of the others. We chose not to do that, since we felt it would be more confusing than helpful.

 

For example, if you have KJV, ASV, and NASB and choose the KJV as your standard, the ASV and NASB would highlight where they each differ from KJV, but not how they differ from each other. There really is no practical way to mark where each text differs from every other text, specially if you have 8!

 

We chose an easy to understand and easy to implement system, which seems to meet the needs of most of our users.

[Robb B]

I think it's important that users remember that in Logos, you are not comparing eight texts with each other. You are comparing only one text to another text in only one direction. Sure, you can view multiple texts at a time, but how practical is that really? It seems unlikely that anyone can effectively process eight texts like that at a time.

[Sean R.]

Thanks for the replies. I'm actually not sure when or why I would ever actually want to compare eight texts at the same time. Thanks for pointing out the limitations of attempting to compare more than two texts.

 

In reality, my question was prompted mostly by curiosity. I know we don't like to get too much into comparisons on this forum (at least that's the impression I've gotten), but as I watched the Logos video I kept thinking to myself "Hum, that's how its done in Logos