The SWORD Project is the CrossWire Bible Society's free Bible software project. Its purpose is to create cross-platform open source tools—covered by the GNU General Public License—that allow programmers and Bible societies to write new Bible software more quickly and easily.
Contents |
The core of the Sword Project is a cross-platform library written in C++, providing access, search functions and other utilities to a growing collection of over 200 texts in over 50 languages.[1] Any software based on their API can use this collection.
The project is one of the primary implementers of and contributors to the Open Scripture Information Standard (OSIS), a standardized XML language for the encoding of scripture. The software is also capable of utilizing certain resources encoded in using the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) format and maintains deprecated support for Theological Markup Language (ThML) and General Bible Format (GBF).
Front-ends are available currently for Windows (The SWORD Project for Windows), various Unixes (Xiphos[2] and BibleTime), including all mainline Linux distributions and FreeBSD, Mac OS X (Eloquent), WinCE (SwordReader), Internet Tablet OS (Rapier), as CGI utility (diatheke) and others.[3]
Beyond that there are a number of other front ends [4][5][6][7][8] making use of the library.
A separate implementation in Java exists in JSword, with at least two cross-platform GUIs, the more mature BibleDesktop[9] and the newer Alkitab, which has been described as "an improved Windows front-end for JSWORD".[10]
Despite the similarity in name, the e-Sword Bible software program is not a product of The SWORD Project, nor is it built upon The SWORD Project API.
Bible Software Review, Review of MacSword version 1.2, June 13, 2005.
Foster Tribe SwordBible Review [7] November 25, 2008
Michael Hansen, Studying the Bible for Free, Stimulus, Volume 12 Number 3, August 2004, page 33 - 38