STEP Library

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STEP (Standard Template for Electronic Publishing) is a standard file format used to electronically distribute Bible text. STEP was conceived in 1995^[1] by Craig Rairdin of Parsons Technology and Jim VanDuzer of Loizeaux Brothers Publishers as a way for Bible reference books to be distributed electronically in a format that would be compatible with more than just one company's Bible software. Rairdin and VanDuzer formed a consortium of Bible software publishers called the Bible Software Industry Standards Group (BSISG) to oversee the development of the STEP specification and to develop common tools to be used by developers and publishers interested in implementing STEP compatibility in their programs or publishing books in the STEP format.

The STEP logo was originally a trademark of Parsons Technology, Inc., now of FindEx, Inc., the current publisher of QuickVerse Bible Software.

1 Format Specifications
2 Bible Study Software
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Format Specifications

The format uses "Microsoft’s Rich Text Format (RTF) with special STEP tags added". ^[2]

While not open format, the specifications have been publicly released, enabling third parties to write their own tools to create, edit, or view STEP resources. Findex distributed The STEP Publisher's Toolkit as part of their license. It is similar to The Libronix Digital Library and Pradis, for users of religious software who want seamless integration of various reference works, using one application to access and cross-reference them all.

[edit] Bible Study Software

The following Bible Study Programs can read STEP files:

e-Sword;
Quickverse 5.0 through 2007;
WordSearch 4.0 and 5.0;

The following companies also issued resources in STEP format:

Ages Library from 1997 to 2000;
Bible Companion from 1995 to 2002;
Ephesians Four Group (current issuer);
Light By Design (current issuer);
Navpress from 1995 to 2003;
Zondervan/Pradis from 1995 - 2002;

[edit] References

^ "The Next STEP in Bible", The Digital World, 2000-07-25. Retrieved on 2007-01-03. "Created by several of the leading Bible software companies in 1995"
^ Standard Template for Electronic Publishing v1.1 (Microsoft Word 97 DOC file) pg 4. Bible Software Industry Standards Group (1999-06-05). Retrieved on 2007-01-03.