Revision History of SwordSearcher

This is a detailed list of changes and updates in each version of SwordSearcher. Items marked "CD-ROM only" are library modules added to the Deluxe CD-ROM study library and are only available from a CD-ROM installation. See the upgrade page for information on upgrading SwordSearcher.

Version 5.3

• Added A. C. Gaebelein Annoted Bible commentary (Commentary module: Gaebelein) CD-ROM Only
• Added C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch (Commentary module: CHMNP) CD-ROM Only
• Added Writings of C. H. Mackintosh (Book module: Mackintosh) CD-ROM Only
• Added Reina Valera Gomez (Spanish KJV) (Bible Module: RVG) CD-ROM Only
• New tool: Scan Text for Verse References. Here's an overview of what it does and how to use it:
• Example uses for this tool:
  • While studying references on the web: if you are reading a web page that has verse references mixed in with other text, you can copy and paste the entire document into the Scan Text tool to automatically hyperlink and highlight all of the verse references, making it very easy to read referenced verses right in the document and avoid manually looking up each one.
  • If you need to load a long list of verse references into a Verse List panel, you can type or paste them into the Scan Text tool and then have all referenced Scripture automatically loaded into a verse list.
• How to use it:
  • 1. Open the Scan Text for Verse References tool. (Search menu, search toolbar, or Alt+F5.)
  • 2. Type or paste from the clipboard any text. The Scan Text tool will automatically hotlink and highlight verse references in the text, which you can read by hovering your mouse pointer over the verse references, or clicking the links, or by loading all referenced verses into a Verse List.
• User Editor Overhaul: The user editor (used for creating and editing personal books and commentaries) has been completely revamped, with the goal of making it a much more robust tool for recording personal commentary and study, as well as making it more useful as a Bible study and sermon preparation tool.
  • Verse references are now automatically linked when the entry is saved. It is no longer necessary to use special tags to link verses in your text, though you may still tag verses manually if you wish. See the help file's user editor section for more details.
  • You can now switch between Design and Code editing modes in the editor; it is no longer necessary to set a program preference for this option.
  • Find and Replace functions added.
  • Design mode has an integrated spell check. By default, the integrated spell check understands American English and words from the King James Bible. A British English dictionary is also available and can be selected. By default, the spell check is "live" (meaning it will underline misspelled words as you type) except for very large documents. The spell check can be manually initiated with F7 or on the Spell Check menu.
  • Several new "Insert" commands are available for inserting links to other resources in Design mode. See the Insert menu.
  • New "Insert Text for Verse Reference at Cursor" function (Insert menu or Ctrl+T) for Design editor. When activated, the editor re-writes verse references at the typing cursor position with the full text of the verses according to the user's export formatting options and "hard links" the reference tags as Bible panel links. This makes creating a Bible study handout a snap.
  • Design mode now has a "Show Elements" option to make invisible elements (such as paragraph breaks) visible with icons.
  • The HTML code edit mode uses "syntax highlighting" for easier HTML editing. The code editor has been significantly improved.
  • User menu now has functions to quickly print entire user books and commentaries at one time.
• Clipboard copy improvements:
  • Formatted copy from a Bible, Book, Verse List, or Commentary panel no longer "forces" the font selection into the target document (such as MS Word).
  • Text manually copied from Bible and Verse List panels no longer includes "table boxes" from the panels.
  • Text manually copied from Bible and Verse List panels now excludes the margin area in the copy operation.
  • Fixed: in some applications, pasting Bible text manually copied from the Bible panel would paste the entire contents of the panel rather than just the selected text.
  • Reduced likelihood of SwordSearcher reporting "unable to access clipboard" or crashing due to other applications not playing nice with the Windows clipboard.
  • General verse formatting copy improvements.
• SwordSearcher URL Protocol implemented: a standardized linking system now exists to work with SwordSearcher from any point where URLs are supported (such as Internet Explorer, MS Word documents, etc.). See the help file for the complete protocol and link specifications.
• General Improvements:
  • Verse Lists from Bible searches now show the match count as well as the verse count. For example: a search for "love" reports "311 matches in 281 verses." Please note that while this works well for simple word and phrase searches, complex searches involving boolean operations may not produce meaningful "match counts" since these types of searches will often match one part of a verse more than once.
  • Search result highlighting highlights found phrases contiguously (including spacing) instead of only highlighting each individual word of the phrase.
  • Holding the mouse pointer over a commentary or book entry link now "pops up" a preview of the book or commentary entry text.
  • User interface icon painting improved.
  • Improvements to verse reference formatting in Book and Commentary panels.
  • Placement of "Search Words of Christ in KJV" window improved.
  • Clicking "Search for # in KJVSL" (Strong's lexicons) no longer prompt for the search; search is immediate.
  • Improvements to KJV Bible module.
  • Double-clicking in Go To Verse and Quick Bible Search toolbar boxes now selects entire text, not just one word.
  • Added Print command to Image Viewer to simply printing of images.
  • Functions that handle verse reference input from the user are even more effective in understanding what verses are intended by the user. SwordSearcher now understands well over 2,000 different variations of book names and book abbreviations from the 66-book KJV canon.
    • Support for "old style" commentary verse references with chapters specified in roman numerals added. Eample: Rom. iv. 1-2. (Romans 4:1-2). This was a common way of referencing verses and is especially useful with the new Scan Text for Verse References function or when pasting in text into a user book or commentary entry. Note that the period after the roman numeral is required.
  • Search result panel tree view controls now use Windows menu font settings (useful for users who have set larger font settings in Windows).
  • Improved printing of Book and Commentary entries.
  • File menu now has "Print Book/Commentary Panel Text" functions which prints the text exactly as it appears in the Book or Commentary panels. (Duplicates function already on the right-click pop-up menu for the panels.)
  • Hovering over a Bible panel link in a Verse List (search results, etc) shows the full book name in the tooltip. Useful if the user is not familiar with book name abbreviations.
  • The Bible Panel "Copy All Verses" function (pop-up menu) has been improved. It now copies the entire panel text as it appears but without the margin area.
  • Improved positioning in Bible and Verse List panels after layout/size changes.
  • Added "Close All Search Result Panels" function (View menu or Ctrl+F9)
  • Opening the Topic and Verse Guide (Alt+T) when the active panel has selected text pre-fills the selected text in the TVG.
• Other Changes:
  • Removed "Keep editor window on top" option from Preferences. (Function no longer necessary.)
  • Removed "Edit Raw HTML code" option from Preferences. Function is obsolete -- the user can now switch between edit modes in the editor on-the-fly.
• Bug Fixes:
  • Right-clicking a library tab would switch the active module before displaying pop-up menu.
  • Search Result panels could lose maximize/restore buttons on layout changes.
  • Fixed certain SwordSearcher windows staying on top of other applications in some circumstances.
  • In some cases, verse links pasted in from other resources into the user editor wouldn't be indexed for the Verse Guide.
  • Attempting to open SwordSearcher a second time wouldn't bring the already active instance to the foreground.
  • Color selection windows in user editor would appear behind the user editor window.
  • Doing a Bible search which included footnotes would alter the user's default preference for Verse List panel footnote display.
  • Synchronizing a Book module with one of the sync preference actions would cause a crash if the book module was empty.
  • Layout changes would sometimes "break" links in the Bible panel until the Bible panel content was changed.
  • Export Verses to File function could have incorrect font formatting in some circumstances

Version 5.2

• Added John Calvin's Verse Commentary (Calvin) commentary module. Contains the verse-specific commentary text from the Calvin Translation Society edition of Calvin's Commentaries. (CD-ROM only)
• Added Morrish Bible Dictionary (Morrish) book module. (CD-ROM only)
• Added Sketches of Jewish Social Life and The Temple: Its Ministry and Services (Edersheim) book module. (CD-ROM only)
• Added Words of Christ in Red support for KJV module.
  • The KJV and KJVSL Bible modules show words of Christ in red letter text.
  • Red-lettering can be disabled in File > Preferences > Text Display Options > KJV Words of Christ.
  • Color is configurable as well.
• Added Search KJV Words of Christ search function (Search menu). Restricts search to "red letter" text of the New Testament.
• Updated Harmonies module.
• Added additional synchronization options (File > Preferences > Sync Options).
• Improved behavior of commentary entry up/down toolbar buttons and up/down key press in entry selection box.
• Added Show Margin Area toggle toolbar button and shortcut (Alt+F10) to Bible panel and improved toggle handling of margin items and paragraph mode.
• Added new keyboard shortcuts: Alt+Up and Alt+Down. Decrements or increments verse in the Go To Verse toolbar and performs synchronization actions.
• Added Maximize Search Results shortcut (Shift+F9).
• Added single row tabs display option in Library Tabs appearance preferences.
• Fixed rare focus bugs that could cause prompt windows to appear behind active windows causing the program to appear to be frozen.
• Fixed bug that could cause Table of Contents Tool to be opened but disabled.
• Fixed crash that could occur after changing commentaries and then using the commentary entry up/down toolbar buttons.
• Fixed font size preference issues with the View > Increase/Decrease font commands.
• Other minor bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Version 5.1

• Added Andrew Miller’s Church History (AMHistory) book module. (CD-ROM Only)
• Added Great Preaching of the Faith (GPreaching) book module. (CD-ROM Only)
• Added Torrey’s The Fundamentals (TFund) book module. (CD-ROM Only)
• Added Seven Books by Sir Robert Anderson (RAnderson) book module. (CD-ROM Only)
• Bug fixes in KJV16 module. (CD-ROM Only)
• Added several synchronization features and preference options to the Sync Options page of the Preferences dialog:

• Added options for action taken when double-clicking on a word in a Bible panel. Options are:
• Open closest entry in active Book (default),
• Open closest entry in Webster's 1828 Dictionary,
• Open closest entry in user-specified book module,
• Open Topic Guide,
• Do nothing.
• Double-clicking a word in the Book or Commentary panel opens the Topic Guide. (This can be disabled in Sync preferences.)
• Double-clicking a verse reference tag in the Bible panel performs the same actions as using the Go To Verse box. (Can be disabled in Sync preferences.)
• Added specific commentary option for Go To Verse Sync preferences.
• Added "set individual panel properties" option in font and color preferences. Using this option it is possible to set different fonts and colors for each panel type (Bible, Book, Commentary, Verse List).
• Expanded right-click menus for Bible, Books, and Commentary library tabs to provide lists of tabs with complete names as an alternative means of accessing modules.
• Added Library Table of Contents Tool (on Search menu, or Shift+Alt+T)
• Added +/- key press function for focused panels displaying highlighted search results. Pressing + or - keys “cycle” each highlighted search result into view.
• Added "Find in focused panel text" search option -- like a word processor "find next" function. (Ctrl+F shortcut for focused text panel.) Searches the text displayed in the active panel (rather than the entire module).
• Significant overall performance improvements, especially when changing panel configuration and switching between books and commentaries.
• Other minor improvements and enhancements.
• Various improvements and bug fixes for panel layout configuration, toggling, etc.

• Fixed some dialog boxes not responding to Esc keypress.
• Fixed crash error when trying to do certain invalid phrase or Boolean expression searches.
• Fixed incorrect enabling of "Export User Book/Cmt" options on User menu (they are now shown as disabled when there are none to export).
• Fixed user module build progress dialog sometimes staying visible even after build is complete.
• Improved internal "closest matching entry" selection method for book panel when double-clicking a word in Bible text.
• Fixed bug with Book menu where selecting a book from the menu could under some circumstances not load the proper entry in the panel.
• Fixed resource tabs not appearing according to user preferences in some cases.
• Other minor bug fixes.

Version 5.0

General information about this release:

SwordSearcher 5.0 is a major new version. Significant improvements to the program and the library have been made in this release. Because the fundamental file format of the SwordSearcher modules has changed (to support faster and more robust searching and indexing), there is no update file that can be downloaded to upgrade 4.8 to 5.0. While the 5.0 module format is not compatible with previous versions of SwordSearcher, you can easily import your user commentaries and books from SwordSearcher 3 or 4 into SwordSearcher 5.

• Added John Gill's Exposition of the Bible commentary.
• Added Chronologies and Harmonies book module.
• Added Clarence Larkin's commentary on Daniel and Revelation.
• Search system improvements:
  • Improved support for wildcard searching; added support for single wild character.
  • Added "English Stemming" search option to find all forms of a word.
  • Added "Fuzzy Matching" search option to find words that are close matches, such as colour = color.
  • Added complete support for boolean expression searches and modifier tokens to apply specific search options, such as case sensitivity or fuzzy matching, to specific words in a search.
  • Bible search "word list" dialog has been improved to include a list of close matches while seeking a word in the list.
  • The "Go To Verse" toolbar, in addition to setting the displayed verse in the Bible panel, also loads a Verse Guide panel in the search results area. (Setting can be changed in user preferences.)
• Library improvements:
  • Commentary and book modules support all new search functions described above.
  • Entire library is now pre-indexed to support fast searching of any or all commentary and book modules. The "Full Reference Search" function from 4.8 has been replaced with a "Full Library Search" function. Library search results are loaded in a results panel similarly to Verse Lists.
  • Library modules now have a "module information" screen. Right-click a module tab to view.
  • Several library modules have been reformatted to improve text presentation and navigability.
• User interface improvements:
  • New docking system allows user to completely customize configuration of the display panels. Three pre-set layouts are defined, and the user may enable layout customization to move panels in any desired configuration, including floating a panel off of the main display window.
  • Improved pop-up text formatting. Added ability to change pop-up and tooltip font and color in user preferences.
  • Added page selector to Verse List panel toolbar.
  • Now supports multiple Verse Lists and Library Search Result panels. By default, new searches open new panels, allowing simultaneous view of different searches. (Setting can be changed in user Preferences.)
  • Added Quick Bible Search box to main toolbar. Also, when using the Quick Bible Search toolbar, if one word is entered and not found in the active Bible, SwordSearcher will present alternatives. For example, typing "savior" into the Quick Bible Search toolbar with the KJV active will offer to search for "saviour" instead (the correct spelling of the word in the KJV).
• General improvements and changes:
  • Various updates and changes to support Windows Vista.
  • Completely revised help file and manual.
  • Added "Rename entry title" for user books on Books menu.
  • Added various keyboard shortcuts.
  • There have been numerous performance enhancements and minor bug fixes not listed here.
• Forge for SwordSearcher is now available. Forge is a free module-build tool for creating SwordSearcher modules without using SwordSearcher's internal user editor.

Version 4.8

• Added Keil and Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary (CD-ROM only)
• Added Lightfoot's commentary on the Gospels (CD-ROM only)
• Added Finney's Systematic Theology (CD-ROM only)
• Added Bounds on Prayer (CD-ROM only)
• Significant improvements to memory management, resulting in faster performance for most systems
• Fixed errors in Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
• Text in Full Reference Search dialog can now be copied to clipboard
• Verse reference parser improvements
• Improved automatic correction and handling of certain module errors
• Commentary view now includes next/previous links when showing an empty entry
• No longer "beeps" when enter is pressed in Go To Verse
• F6 added as additional shortcut for Go To Verse (Alt+G still works too)
• Added update check function on Help menu, optional reminder interval on Options.
• Fixed excessive indentation in some Webster 1828 entries
• Added "look up in Websters" popup menu item for Bible display, when appropriate.
• Added Paste as Plain Text function to user editor
• Fixed problem where Verse List status text could improperly size
• Fixed sizing bug with displays that could cause the Bible and Commentary scroll bars to creep off the edge of the screen in some circumstances.
• Added export formatting styles I and J.
• Back/Forward history in Book and Commentary displays now remember scroll position.

Version 4.7

• Added Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible (CD-ROM only)
• Added 1611 edition KJV Bible (CD-ROM only)
• Added Bishops Bible (CD-ROM only)
• Added Old Testament portion to Barnes Commentary (Full commentary now complete) (CD-ROM only)
• Added Newell's Romans Verse by Verse commentary (CD-ROM only)
• Fixed verse link errors in 1Cor chapter headings for Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary (CD-ROM only)
• Fixed verse link errors in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge commentary (CD-ROM only)
• Marked-text copy from main displays retains underlines
• Fixed bug where switching between Bible tabs would sometimes not update display
• Added option to preferences to force plain-text clipboard copy method with marked-text copy in main displays
• Changed size constraints of main window to allow for smaller size display
• Fixed verse reference parsing bug
• User editor font size selector is now shown in HTML font size units
• Added "Export user module" functions to allow for an entire user-created module to be exported to a text file
• Fixed user editor problems caused by Windows update KB891781
• Fixed menu display color issues on some systems
• Various rarely encountered bugs fixed

Version 4.6

• Added John Darby's Chapter Synopses (CD-ROM only)
• Added Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (CD-ROM only)
• Added Fausset's Bible Dictionary (CD-ROM only)
• The button glyphs in SwordSearcher have been redesigned and the main toolbar buttons are slightly larger.
• Various visual improvements to the user interface have been made. Certain operations should be faster.
• The Previous/Next chapter buttons on the Bible display toolbar have been changed to a single Up/Down control.
• The 'Maximize" buttons for the various displays will now function as toggles.
• Double-clicking a word in the Bible display with a Webster's volume selected in the Book display will now attempt to look up the word in the alternate volume if it does not exist in the active volume.
• Corrected the display of bad links in some Strong's lexicon entries. These link errors are due to the original printing of Strong's and do not require a module update to fix.
• Fixed some problems with the word list dialog (from the Search Bible dialog).
• Fixed incorrect hilighting of results in the Verse List in certain conditions.
• Fixed problems with case sensitive Bible searching.
• Fixed bug where linebreaks in the user editor may not be saved correctly.
• Fixed bug where changing the Verse List version or compare version could result in a crash if no verses were displayed.
• The Verse List Display and Bible Search dialog will remember the selected version between program sessions.
• Several other minor improvements and fixes.

Version 4.5

• Added John Wesley's Notes on the Bible commentary module (CD-ROM only)
• Added A. T. Robertson's NT Word Pictures commentary module (CD-ROM only)
• Added English-Strong's Indexer
• Added quick-start tutorials
• Added automatic verse copy+paste hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+V) for automatically pasting verses into other applications
• Added function for renaming user modules
• Added preference option for clearing search/etc history on exit
• Added up/down controls to Commentary and Book displays for going to next/previous entry
• Fixed bug in Full Reference Search that could cause results from Strong's to be incomplete
• Improved display on systems set to large fonts
• Several other minor fixes and improvements

Version 4.4

• Added Geneva Bible module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Spurgeon Sermons book module (CD-ROM only)
• New user content editor (now more of a WYSIWYG editor)
• Added toolbar button to commentary display for deleting a user entry
• Improved handling of oversize user entries (rarely encountered)
• Added 'append to clipboard' function
• Improved result linking in Full Reference Search
• Improved status bar text information
• Improved verse link handling in user content
• User can now right-click a Bible tab to select/deselect compare version (in addition to using the regular popup menu)
• Various minor bugfixes
  

Version 4.3

• Added Webster's 1828 Dictionary of American English Book module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Tyndale's Translation Bible module: New Testament, Pentateuch, and Jonah (CD-ROM only)
• Minor fixes to Spurgeon's Morning and Evening module
• Improved searching in Book and Commentaries
• Topic Guide renamed to Topic and Verse Guide
• Topic and Verse Guide now includes commentaries when searching verse references
• Topic and Verse Guide now supports verse ranges in addition to specific verses
• New Full Reference Search feature
• Minor corrections to Strong's data
• Added function to copy image in image viewer to clipboard
• Bible text searching improved, especially when doing phrase searches
• Ability to assign titles to bookmarks added
• New export styles added to Configure Copy/Export Formatting
• Fixed problem on some systems with Bible drop-down lists (Book & Chapter)
• Improved clipboard output for selection copy
• Added options for including next/previous chapter links in Bible Display
• Added Substring Matches option to Bible search, same as searching with wildcards on each end of the word
• Fixed KJVSL search results where some words would not be hilighted properly in rare cases
• Restart no longer required after creating a new user module
• Option to delete user modules from inside SwordSearcher added
• Double-clicking a word in the Bible display now attempts to look that word up in the active dictionary/book
• New resource tabs system implemented
• Ability to hide tabs added
• Other various minor improvements to program
• Various visual improvements

Version 4.2

• Added Wycliffe Translation Bible module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Rightly Dividing the Word book module (with images for image viewer) (CD-ROM only)
• Added Osborn's Biblical History book module (CD-ROM only)
• Added King James 2000 Bible module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Dutch Statenvertaling Bible module (CD-ROM only)
• Significant improvements to ISBE module (CD-ROM only)
• Various minor improvements to several other modules (CD-ROM only)
• Added Image Viewer feature
• Added Maps module (for image viewer) (CD-ROM only)
• Added illustrated portion (270+ illustrations and maps) to Easton's Bible Dictionary module (illustrations not available in download version due to file size constraints) (CD-ROM only)
• Improvements to Topic Guide and reference link popup selector
• Various cosmetic improvements; support for Windows XP themes
• QuickJump now moves commentary as well as Bible display
• Added support for book and commentary entry links in user modules
• Added windows states (position and size) save option, on by default
• Added user editor "stay on top" option, on by default
• Added user editor "raw" mode (doesn't interpret paragraphs, intended for advanced users), OFF by default
• Added "Print this window" feature to Verse List, Bible, Book, and Commentary pop-up menus. Prints as displayed on screen.
• Added Resource Tabs preference page for configuring tab display options
• Added "copy verse from link" function to Book and Commentary popup menus. Allows you to copy the linked verse without viewing it in the Bible or Verse display.
• User editor no longer closes automatically with save
• Speed improvement in opening user editor in some cases
• Added Previous/Next Chapter buttons to Bible display toolbar
• Added support for CSS in user entries (must appear in <head> segment of HTML. Intended for advanced users who already know how to manually code style sheets. No support for this feature is offered.)
• Other minor bug fixes and improvements.

Version 4.1

• Added Abbott NT Commentary module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia module (CD-ROM only)
• Added Fox's Book of Martyrs module (CD-ROM only)
• Switch Bible Text keyboard shortcuts added: Alt+Left: Previous version, Alt+Right: next version.
• New keyboard focus shortcuts: Alt+1: Verse List, Alt+2: Bible Display, Alt+3: Book Display, Alt+4: Commentary Display
• SwordSearcher now remembers which Bible, Book, and Commentary you had open when you last closed
• Added functions added for printing Commentary and Book entry ranges, on File menu
• Added Display Verse List function to Verse List menu (loads specified verses into the list)
• Fixed rare bug with popup menus when no Books or Commentaries loaded
• Fixed problems with verse scrolling in Paragraph mode
• Rare search result display problems with KJVSL fixed
• Fixed removal of character after pipe (verse references) in user editing
• Fixed some help linking errors
• Verse tag now marked in Bible display when clicking reference in Book or Commentary
• Successive pages in verse list now gives correct verse on pop-up menu
• Minor memory/resource improvements
• Corrections to Morning and Evening Devotional

Version 4.01

• Corrected bad link in Torrey's Topical Textbook
• Topic Guide and Custom Search Range dialogs now display correctly on systems set to Large Fonts
• "Today's Proverb" added to Devotional Menu (was only on Bible menu)
• Corrected bookmark #9 bug
• Fixed bugs which could cause some menu and toolbar functions to be non-responsive
• Corrected crash bug in Configure Export Formatting
• Display windows can no longer become "lost" when resized to zero width
• Added function on View menu to restore default sizes to display windows

Version 4.0

• Initial SwordSearcher 4 release.