13 replies to this topic

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi,

 

I just purchased (yesterday) the Accordance Original Language Collection with the Hebrew and Greek Syntax Modules to run on Windows 8.1.

 

When I bought it I assumed I could change the default Hebrew lexicon in the ID window and simply hover the cursor over a word in HMT-W4 to view it. I thought I saw this feature on Accordance's Windows Video at http://www.accordanc...nce-For-Windows , at 00:58 to 01:04, where hovering the mouse brought up a HALOT entry in the ID box, and on the screenshot to start the video. I had also watched many Podcasts where hovering brought up the Strong's lexicon in the box. Since both hovering actions appeared to be the same, I assumed that the default lexicon in the Windows Video had been changed to HALOT, and that was a feature of the program. I eventually called Tech Support, and based on what they told me the person in the video had to be holding the CTRL key while hovering the mouse.

 

At least the video shows exactly what I am proposing - simply hover the mouse to view a preferred lexicon. Here is why I think this should be a basic feature.

 

According to the Accordance Philosophy in Podcast #16, Accordance is/strives to be "flexible enough to adapt to each user's study habits," i.e., "users don't have to study the Bible using someone else's pre-defined path," is "unobtrusive, never distracting from the study of the text," and is customizable. Based on this philosophy (which I agree with 100%), I believe I should be able to change the default lexicon. I don't know any OT/HB scholar who would prefer Strong's over a scholarly lexicon. Even PhDs in OT/HB don't remember the definition of every word, especially of some that occur only once or a few times. So we do need a more scholarly lexicon in the Instant Details window. Just as "no customer should ever be forced to buy resources he or she doesn't need," no customer should be forced to view a resource he or she doesn't need.

 

If I had known about the CTRL + cursor feature beforehand, I still would have purchased Accordance. I bought it to replace Gramcord, which doesn't work in Window 8.1, to resume grammatical searches and to add the syntax search feature. Suffice it to say that I am impressed with Accordance's search capabilities. But its usefulness would be greatly enhanced by the feature I propose - not only for scholars, but also for students. It would also be fantastic for an iPad, etc.

 

Thank you for considering this proposal.

 

Michel

[Joel Brown]

Michel, the default lexicon is your top Hebrew Tool listed in your Library.  Simply drag whichever preferred lexicon to the top, and it will be the lexicon used when you Control-hover over any word.

 

Does this help?

[Michel Gilbert]

Joel,

 

I knew that before I posted. My feature request is that my default lexicon appear in the ID window when I hover without the Control key.

 

Blessings

[davidmedina]

Or just triple click on the word...

[Joel Brown]

Hi, Michel.  We appreciate your feedback and will definitely keep it under consideration.  There are a few reasons why we don't currently default to the lexicon, but instead the grammatical information:

 

1) Most users seem to need the grammatical information more readily at a glance, then the full lexical definition.  i.e. a user more regularly will want to scan through each word to get its parsing (masculine singular, etc.) than look up each words' definition.  I'm not saying this applies to all users, but more the average use-case.

 

2) The grammatical information is much more likely to be accurate (I'd say 'always', but I'm sure there's a typo or error somewhere...).  It pulls available, known information about the specific word in its context.  The lexical lookup may or may not fail, it may find a similar, but unrelated homograph, or it may not get the perfect article for the definition.  This is all dependent on which lexicon you are using for the lookup.

 

3) Though likely less of an issue nowadays, it is a more intensive operation to pull in an article from an arbitrary lexicon than to pull in a known grammatical entry.  If you are simply moving your mouse over a few dozen hebrew words to get to the scrollbar, you would not want delays in pulling in the information over every word you briefly passed over.

 

So, I am certainly not saying that this will never be changed, or be provided as a preference, but I hope this explains a little better why we chose to require the Control (command on a mac) key down.  It helps it be a very easily accessible, but deliberate, action.

[davidmedina]

I see the ID as a bite size and the CTRL+hover like a snack to decide if I want to go further. I choose if I want the bite or the snack rise before triple clicking or amplify the word. 

[Tony Pyles]

Hello Michel,

 

If I may make a suggestion, it sounds like the presence of the keyword info in the instant details window is a source of frustration. I had the same experience when it was first added to Accordance. Please accept my apologies if you've already discovered this, but there is a preference setting that allows you to turn this off. I'll attach a screenshot if the forums will let me. You'll see that it is also possible to turn on/off a variety of details such as syntax, parsing, and transliteration.

 

 Screen Shot 2013-11-07 at 3.09.44 PM.png   97.82KB   1 downloads

 

It isn't the same as getting the HALOT or DCH entry straight away, but perhaps changing these settings will reduce the clutter in the details window for you. I hope this helps!

 

Thanks,

Tony

[davidmedina]

Good point Tony. I prefer the pop up than having the ID on all the time. It's also gives a more consistent experience between tha mobile app and the desktop to use the pop up ID that the fixed one. You can also move it to a second screen which make even more useful the CTRL+Hover.

[Michel Gilbert]

Hello again

 

David and Tony,

 

I know about triple clicking. Thank you.

 

I turned off some of the features in the ID window within the first few hours of purchasing. Thank you.

 

Perhaps other new Windows users will benefit from your suggestions.

 

Joel and all,

 

I appreciate all of the comments so far. To clarify even further:

 

I like the ID window and its features, and I want to keep it the way it is, with one exception - the ability to change the lexicon in it. I agree with David about the ID window being bite size with hover - or did he mean byte size? - and snack size with CTRL-hover. My request is that I could see the snack with a hover if I preferred.

 

In the end, my request is just that - a request. With limited resources and many needs, choices have to be made. I did not mention in the original post that I also thought it would be easy to implement. Even though I am not a programmer, nor the son of a programmer, I thought that if my feature request did not involve changing anything in the ID box except the lexical entry, and these entries were already tagged as the same number in all of the lexicon modules, then it would be easy enough to change the code and allow a different module in the Strong's slot in the ID box. Again, it is just the lexicon slot in the ID window that programmers would have to address.

 

The following comments address whatever assumptions you might have about my preferred lexicon.

 

David brings up the point that whatever our preference, we might have to work around it at times. For several reasons I would not choose HALOT as my preferred lexicon in the ID window. The first is the sheer size of some of its entries (e.g., פקד), which would not fit into the window. Second, a possible solution to this has not been developed, i.e., word definitions could be tied to the numbered definitions in an entry, and these definitions might fit in the window. Of course, such tagging would involve scholarly judgment, which could always be investigated with triple clicking and going for a meal. Third, even if this tagging was done, the definition from HALOT would sometimes be quite long. Compare these definitions for גֵּר - Strong's "stranger," Concise DCH "sojourner, resident alien Gn 15:13, as distinct from אֶזְרָח native Ex 12:19; oft. mentioned in connection with oppression Ex 22:20 Jr 7:6. → גור I sojourn, and HALOT, "a man who (alone or with his family) leaves village and tribe because of war 2S 43 Is 164, famine Ru 11, epidemic, blood guilt etc. and seeks shelter and residence at another place, where his right of landed property, marriage and taking part in jurisdiction, cult and war has been curtailed." Of course this is an extreme example, but HALOT is very detailed and precise. I would actually prefer the Concise DCH to appear in the ID window, along with my other preferences for that window.

 

 

Thank you to all.

 

Michel

[Joel Brown]

Michel, I may be misunderstanding you, but what you seem to be wanting to do is replace HALOT with the Concise DCH in your instant details, no?

 

This is what I referred to in my initial post - drag Concise DCH to be your top Hebrew Tool, and it will be the one displayed in your control-hover of the instant details.

[Michel Gilbert]

Joel,

 

You are misunderstanding me.

 

I know how to drag my preferred lexicon to the top of the Hebrew Tools menu so that it appears with CTRL-hover.

 

I do not want to use the CTRL key to access an entry from my preferred lexicon.

 

Whether that be DCH, HALOT, BDB, or any future offerings, e.g., Holladay, is beside the point. I want to access the ID window with a preferred lexicon the same way I can access the ID window with the default Strong's lexicon, i.e., with a simple hover action. 

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi again,

 

There is another solution that would work for me, one that would also enhance personalized Bible study for others. It might also be easier to implement.

 

Under Edit / Preferences / Instant Details / English Word, allow users to either view the English word in Strong's, or view a blank text box that they could write their own notes in. Has Accordance ever considered allowing short User Notes in the Instant Details window?

 

The things I love about the ID box are that it is instant and convenient, requiring only the cursor. If I could personalize it with my own entries, thoughts, etc., my love would abound even more. In my case, I would add lexical entries, ideas for syntax searches, text critical notes, and even devotional notes.

 

 

 

Michel

[Joel Brown]

Well, its not exactly what you are asking, but any user notes that are added to a verse will appear in a red dot marker next to the verse.  Hovering over that marker will display your note in the ID, giving you the flexibility you desire.  The only catch is that it is verse-specific, not word-specific.

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi Joel,

 

In my case it would work for some verses, but probably not for the majority of them.

 

The majority of my notes would be on difficult verses, with notes/lexical entries on several words and corresponding text critical notes. Since the difficulties often involve syntax, I would also often make syntactical notes. If the user note feature for the ID box is verse-specific, I would guess that my notes on most verses would not fit in the box.

 

It would be great if the feature was word-specific.

 

Thank you for the suggestion though. I will certainly make use of it for some things.

 

As I said, I bought Accordance to replace Gramcord as my original languages search program. Gramcord ran in XP mode in Windows 7 Pro, etc., but Windows 8 does not offer XP mode. I expected that I would do my searches in Accordance and return to my familiar Office programs to process the results as notes or paragraphs. However, if Accordance offered the features I propose, I could do much more studying, writing, and teaching in one program than I ever thought possible, and do it more efficiently.

 

It would be great to have a preferred lexicon in the ID window (my first feature request) for rapid reading of the original Bible texts. It would also be great to access lexical and other notes on individual words in the same ID box (word-specific, my second request). For many OT/HB scholars it would be a dream come true if the lexical entry from a preferred lexicon in the ID box was tied to a number entry, accessible with the cursor alone, and if that short entry could be edited.

 

I'm sure that many biblical scholars and/or their students would be willing to tag numbered entries in HALOT and BGAD to the individual Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words. I know I would be.

 

As I mentioned above, this is a request for a new feature (or two). I only expect that Accordance might take notice of it, and might consider it.

 

Thank you again.

 

Michel