8 replies to this topic

[Matthew Molesky]

I have owned Accordance for awhile, but am still learning much about this great software. Recently having learned Hebrew, I have tried to copy and paste into Word and/or Pages. It seems to flip it, reverse the text from top to bottom. I am running the most recent versions of those applications in Tiger 10.4.2, with Accordance 6.7. I would appreciate any tips anyone has. Thank you.

[Helen Brown]

Word 2004 does not support Hebrew in Unicode, so you cannot really use it for Hebrew. If you try to use our Yehudit font you will run into font substitution problems unless you strip the cantillation marks. You can paste text in Yehudit if you leave the check box for Reverse Hebrew Direction checked, but you will not be able to edit it easily or change the line length (set the same as the Accordance pane) or really work in the Hebrew.

Pages does support Hebrew Unicode. We also recommend the Mellel word processor. Please see the Unicode page on the website for more details.

[R. Mansfield]

I had to write a short paper over the weekend (using Word), and I was switching the preferences back and forth constantly according to what language I was copying and pasting.

For Greek I had to switch the preferences to unicode export because the breathing marks in Helena don't display correctly in Word.

But for Hebrew, I had to switch back to exporting in Yehudit because Word can't handle the right to left unicode.

As I have stated in another thread, although I have registered copies of both Mellel and Pages, neither seem ready for primetime.

Right now, I think we Mac users are in a bit of a crisis when it comes to biblical academic writing. There doesn't seem to be any good solution (yet).

What about the possibility of having settings that would allow us to set Greek export to unicode while keeping Hebrew export to Yehudit?

[Joel Brown]

As I have stated in another thread, although I have registered copies of both Mellel and Pages, neither seem ready for primetime.

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Just out of curiosity, what are your (summarized) problems with pages? I haven't used Mellel, so I can't speak for that, but what features found in Word aren't present in Pages? I'm sure the papers I write aren't as complex in layout as yours, but Pages does everything I need it to. Personally, I cannot stand Word, as it is always trying to do things I don't want it to do. I'm sure there are ways around it, but why force yourself to do things the hard way when there are easier alternatives?

[Helen Brown]

What about the possibility of having settings that would allow us to set Greek export to unicode while keeping Hebrew export to Yehudit?

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You could use the Widget for Greek as it automatically converts to Unicode, and leave the Accordance export at Yehudit for the Hebrew.

[R. Mansfield]

You could use the Widget for Greek as it automatically converts to Unicode, and leave the Accordance export at Yehudit for the Hebrew.

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Helen,

That would seem like a reasonable solution, but I can't get the text to paste into Word. The readme file that came with the Accordance Widget states "Microsoft Word 2004 does not fully support Unicode and does not accept Greek or Hebrew text from the widget."

[R. Mansfield]

Just out of curiosity, what are your (summarized) problems with pages?  I haven't used Mellel, so I can't speak for that, but what features found in Word aren't present in Pages?  I'm sure the papers I write aren't as complex in layout as yours, but Pages does everything I need it to.  Personally, I cannot stand Word, as it is always trying to do things I don't want it to do.  I'm sure there are ways around it, but why force yourself to do things the hard way when there are easier alternatives?

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Joel, I reply to you offline regarding Pages so that we don't get too far off-topic.

[Helen Brown]

That would seem like a reasonable solution, but I can't get the text to paste into Word. The readme file that came with the Accordance Widget states "Microsoft Word 2004 does not fully support Unicode and does not accept Greek or Hebrew text from the widget."

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Oops, yes you are correct, but here is a workaround that is less hassle than changing the Preferences each time, and works for the Greek but not the Hebrew, since Word2004 has more problems with the latter:
Paste from the Widget into TextEdit, Pages, or Mellel, then copy and paste from there into Word.

[jpkang]

As I have stated in another thread, although I have registered copies of both Mellel and Pages, neither seem ready for primetime.

Right now, I think we Mac users are in a bit of a crisis when it comes to biblical academic writing. There doesn't seem to be any good solution (yet).

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I've been using Mellel since its early days (I think I paid $20 for it!) and am currently using it to write a dissertation on epigraphic Hebrew, and find it very capable (let alone its excellent Unicode support--nothing else handles Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac as well as it) for writing and formatting. It will require an investment of time with the well-written (and occasionally funny) manual, esp. with their styles concepts (pp. 133ff in the downloadable Guide), but I think it can do most of what you need. I had some special formatting needs, for example, and their indent tabs (pp. 71ff in the Guide) are more useful than any implementation I'd found in any other word processor (and I have Office 2004, Pages, used to use Nisus, etc.). I can also plug the Bookends bibliography database software, to which I switched from EndNote. There's a small learning curve here, too, but it works reliably. Also, the developers are extremely responsive and at the rate of implementation of new features, the 2.0 should be a major release. So, while not perfect, it is very powerful--it just takes a little work to unlock its power.

J. P.