Searching by Reference in Non-Biblical Books

[why1942]

So, I think out of all the features I've found helpful in Accordance thus far, this will probably be the most beneficial. Being able to pull up an individual module like the ISBE or a dictionary or any number of pdf books I've imported and then search just for the name of the book reference and it shows hits in context (with a hits jumper) of every reference listed (regardless of how the reference is formatted). 

 

This basically transforms ALL non-commentary materials into commentaries. I can even do global searches through all materials in Accordance in Research and it returns the same results. This option is not available in theWord. You can do global searching, but by reference is limited to the format each module has.

 

So, this leads me to a question: Is this universal for all modules? Would the Church Fathers work the same way (https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=CF-2)? I can put in "Romans" and it will provide hits for every reference from Romans throughout the entire corpus?  

 

w

[why1942]

So, I think out of all the features I've found helpful in Accordance thus far, this will probably be the most beneficial. Being able to pull up an individual module like the ISBE or a dictionary or any number of pdf books I've imported and then search just for the name of the book reference and it shows hits in context (with a hits jumper) of every reference listed (regardless of how the reference is formatted). 

 

This basically transforms ALL non-commentary materials into commentaries. I can even do global searches through all materials in Accordance in Research and it returns the same results. This option is not available in theWord. You can do global searching, but by reference is limited to the format each module has.

 

So, this leads me to a question: Is this universal for all modules? Would the Church Fathers work the same way (https://www.accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=CF-2)? I can put in "Romans" and it will provide hits for every reference from Romans throughout the entire corpus?  

 

w

Mileage is varying on the Import Tool. I'm thinking it's about 40% success rate on PDFs and 50% on epubs, if I first convert to htmlz and then pull out the html file. But, both PDF and html conversion are leaving the majority of books with garbled TOC's. I think 2 books out of 20 have so far made it through the process perfectly. But, my primary purpose is to keep these selected texts in Accordance to utilize the Research feature and search all titles simultaneously and to do explorative searches (especially for references).  

 

I debated if I wanted to import tools or just leave them outside of Accordance and put together a hotlink library in a user tool for access to them from within Accordance. The PDF and epub readers I use present them without flaw. But, the search capability is unmatched, especially with global capabilities. So I pick and choose which titles I want to import, cross my fingers and wish upon a star that it works, then I click the go button and hope for the best. 

 

So far most are usable, just no TOC to speak of. I might go in and fix them at a later date, but with search there's really no point (context is king anyway). Also, side note: I started converting the user Tools I imported to regular tools, but this screwed up the search results. It started highlighting different words and going crazy, so I'm keeping them as User Tools. Keeps them editable anyway, so...

 

w

[Donald Cobb]

Mileage is varying on the Import Tool. I'm thinking it's about 40% success rate on PDFs and 50% on epubs, if I first convert to htmlz and then pull out the html file. But, both PDF and html conversion are leaving the majority of books with garbled TOC's. I think 2 books out of 20 have so far made it through the process perfectly. But, my primary purpose is to keep these selected texts in Accordance to utilize the Research feature and search all titles simultaneously and to do explorative searches (especially for references).  

 

I debated if I wanted to import tools or just leave them outside of Accordance and put together a hotlink library in a user tool for access to them from within Accordance. The PDF and epub readers I use present them without flaw. But, the search capability is unmatched, especially with global capabilities. So I pick and choose which titles I want to import, cross my fingers and wish upon a star that it works, then I click the go button and hope for the best. 

 

So far most are usable, just no TOC to speak of. I might go in and fix them at a later date, but with search there's really no point (context is king anyway). Also, side note: I started converting the user Tools I imported to regular tools, but this screwed up the search results. It started highlighting different words and going crazy, so I'm keeping them as User Tools. Keeps them editable anyway, so...

 

w

 

Thanks for this, "why". One question : what process are you using to convert ebooks into user tools? I'm not a computer geek by any stretch of the imagination, so I've never made an attempt at it, but I do have several ebooks that I would love to be able to use in Accordance. If you have any ideas (or anyone else for that matter), I would love to hear them.

[Fabian]

https://www.accordancebible.com/forums/topic/16044-how-to-add-epubs-to-accordance-user-tools/

 

I have also done a few request for supporting Footnote links, Endnote links, in general links inside the file.

I also would love to have Base64 support. And many other things, like full unicode support etc. 

[Joel Brown]

why1942, yes this is true for all tools.  You can even put a tool in the My Toolset section of the Info Pane to have it show up anytime any of the tools in that set reference the verse you are reading.

 

[why1942]

Thanks for this, "why". One question : what process are you using to convert ebooks into user tools? I'm not a computer geek by any stretch of the imagination, so I've never made an attempt at it, but I do have several ebooks that I would love to be able to use in Accordance. If you have any ideas (or anyone else for that matter), I would love to hear them.

 

I'm primarily converting PDFs and EPUBS. I imagine MOBI or Kindles new format would just convert the same way as EPUBS would but I haven't tried it yet.

 

For PDF it's just direct import into Accordance and success varies wildly. But, at least there's a chance.

 

EPUBS I first put into Calibre, convert to HTMLZ, go to the file location and open that htmlz file with an unzipper, pull out the html file. Then I go into Accordance and import it as html. Again, wild variance on success, but I've actually had 2 that imported perfectly. Most import the text fine, but the TOCs are jumbled and sporadic. On one import I went in after the fact and edited it. The process to add remove TOC entries is really nice and quick, but with a full size book or one with many entries, it is laborious. Once I discovered I could do the different searches (references, full text), the TOC became low priority. Having the text available by search is much more important.

 

It's a great feature. As someone else on the forums stated, I have a vast library of ebooks in various formats, but most of the time they just sit on the virtual shelf on my external harddrive because they are inaccessible. Now I can go through and curate the best of them, import and at least a percentage will be fully searchable. 

 

I was able to import one book into theWord awhile back, but it was a horrible process, only had success with one book, and the end result was less than ideal. This process in Accordance is much better and has more promising results and capabilities.

 

w

[Donald Cobb]

https://www.accordancebible.com/forums/topic/16044-how-to-add-epubs-to-accordance-user-tools/

 

I have also done a few request for supporting Footnote links, Endnote links, in general links inside the file.

I also would love to have Base64 support. And many other things, like full unicode support etc. 

 

Danke Fabian! Something to look into! Thank you as well "Why1942" for your comments and for sharing your experience.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Donald Cobb

[why1942]

why1942, yes this is true for all tools.  You can even put a tool in the My Toolset section of the Info Pane to have it show up anytime any of the tools in that set reference the verse you are reading.

 

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 9.41.40 AM.png

That is some really, really great news on the Church Fathers. I've tried various other formats I have and importing them, but all attempts have failed. The PDFs available online are okay, but the references are not updated. I also have an epub version (with references inline) but it won't convert, keeps hanging up in calibre. So, with the footnotes being corrected and so easy to access, the search capabilities, it would be worth the money to purchase this set, especially if I wait for a discount. 

 

w

Edited April 9, 2020 by why1942

[why1942]

Just as an update:

 

I've had terrible luck with epubs. Very few make the conversion process. Either there is a problem converting them to html or there is a problem importing them. Usually it freezes Accordance and I have to restart. 

 

But, with some trial and error, I've had MUCH better luck with converting epubs to txt files and importing that way. The success rate is much, much higher. Probably 90% or better. I have had trouble with one ebook that is actually a series of books in omnibus format (ten books in one epub file). But, I was able to copy the first book and paste it into its own txt file, then the import worked great. 

 

Caveat: txt of course is not great for Greek or Hebrew. I imported the Complete Works of Philo, which has the English then the Greek text. The font for the Greek is unreadable. But the English turned out fine.  Also, there are some characters that have issue, quotes, apostrophes, etc. I plan to go in and edit them soon with find/replace, once I figure out the editor. It keeps having issues with the Title (blue box with a t in it) headings when I go to save it. I have to do more reading to figure that out.

 

There are slight issues with the search features showing the wrong words, but it's not frequent or severe and has been covered at length elsewhere in the forums. 

 

I've imported probably 20+ books since yesterday and it really has transformed the capabilities I have to research quickly. No longer am I limited to the books I've taken the time to read. Now I can mine any book, all books, that I've taken the time (fraction of the time) to import. This is especially handy due to the Scripture Reference search capabilities in Accordance, turning every type of book or tool into a commentary. 

 

I was also able to import the first volume of the Church Fathers and I think I could do a quick find/replace to fix the Scripture References. But, the footnotes are not hyperlinked and they are very extensive. I think it would be worth the price to buy the set just for expediency. 

 

w

[Fabian]

For plain text with Greek and Hebrew etc. I suggest to copy paste to User Tool, not to import it. 

[why1942]

For plain text with Greek and Hebrew etc. I suggest to copy paste to User Tool, not to import it. 

I noticed that.

 

w