e-Sword For The Pocket PC

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/index.html">http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/index.html</a><br /><br />e-Sword is free Bible study software for your PC, sort of a a lite version of <a href="http://www.quickverse.com/">Quickverse</a>. Now e-Sword has some books available for the Pocket PC.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2004/20040102-esword.gif" /><br /><br />It is available for Pocket PC 2002 devices (7,815kb download) and Windows Mobile 2003 devices (5,358kb download.) Given the size differences, it makes me think that it uses .NET, which is built into WM2003, but that is speculation on my part.<br /><br />Features include:<br />• Numerous Bible versions - 12 translations. Because they are all free, most are either out of copyright or are provided through a special arrangement with the copyright holder. The popular NIV is not available.<br />• Three commentaries, three dictionaries and Naves Topical Bible available.<br />• You can compare versus across different translations.<br />• Two daily devotionals available.<br />• Powerful search features.<br />• Strong's numbers available with Greek and Hebrew dictionaries.<br /><br />Everything at this site is free, but you are encouraged to make donations. You can also see the much larger library of <a href="http://www.e-sword.net">PC books and software here</a>.

[Evee Ev]

sweet! i use e-sword for the desktop and it's great. the search feature looks really good.

[Chriswalley]

Oh hurrah! I really like E-sword for the PC. Its neat and fast and does what 95% of Bible readers want to do 95% of the time. I'm off to try the pocket pc version now.

[pdaisdead]

Reading the Bible on your Pocket PC? I thought PDAs were supposed to allow you to do useful things with your downtime....

[sracer]

Ed, thanks for the info! I too use the desktop PC version of e-sword and have been using OliveTree Bible Reader on the PPC... but I'm looking forward to giving e-sword/ppc a runthrough.

[erussell]

re: "Reading the Bible on your Pocket PC? I thought PDAs were supposed to allow you to do useful things with your downtime...."


Exactly my thoughts!

[Evee Ev]

pdaisdead and erussel...please share what useful things you guys do during your downtime! i can't wait to hear...

[MLO]

Holy cow! They have The Message translation available.

And about fifty gazillion dictionaries and commentaries.

I'm drooling now.


MLO

[Kati Compton]

If you want to talk in general about useful things to do on a PDA, please start another thread. Those threads are always fun.

However, this thread is about a bible-reading program, which is useful to some people. If that program is not useful to you, or not interesting to you, please do not bother reading (or posting to) this thread.

[crimsonsky]

What a supremely marvelous resource! I've added it to Laridian's Pocket Bible on my e755, but I can already see that I'll probably be using e-sword more often. I can't believe the amount of stuff that's available.

And all this for free! What a wonderful Ministry Rick Meyers has made for us to provide this material without cost.

[24va]

Is it just me or does the KJVw/Strong's just display the number and nothing else?

I'm hoping that Rick Meyers will port over the maps and pictures that are available for the desktop version! I know, it will be huge.... but it will make me upgrade to a 512m SD card a lot quicker! :lol:

[MLO]

I've found a teeny glitch in the program.

When you have it open, the input area is not available in any other program. Example: I take notes in Streamliner when reading. When I switched from e-Sword to Streamliner, I couldn't bring up the Block or Keyboard input to write notes. Nothing was there in the space where the input toggle usually is.

[AndrewLubinus89]

Wow, that's a great program, my sister uses the desktop e-sword (although I never have). I'll have to check it out. I thought one of the greatest features of the handheld device was to read the Bible in you downtime :D

[crimsonsky]

I've found a teeny glitch in the program.

When you have it open, the input area is not available in any other program. Example: I take notes in Streamliner when reading. When I switched from e-Sword to Streamliner, I couldn't bring up the Block or Keyboard input to write notes. Nothing was there in the space where the input toggle usually is.

Confirmed. However, if you're on the Notes tab in esword, your SIP will be available in other programs. - Don

[ironguy]

I downloaded ALL the Bibles, Commentaries, and Dictionaries. It's almost 100MB to transfer to your PPC! Good thing my new 512MB SD card will be here shortly!

I wonder if NIV will be available at some point?

[Ed Hansberry]

I wonder if NIV will be available at some point?
Unless he is going to be willing to charge for it, I doubt it. All NIVs sold require a fee back to the copyright holder. This is why you never see free NIVs like you do the KJV and others.

[SoAlive]

I don't get it . . . how can these all be free? I know that most are public domain, but there are several translations / books that sites like Laridian charge for, i.e. The Message, Matthew Henry, Nave's, and more. Is Laridian making money off of public domain stuff, or is e-Sword giving away stuff that should be paid for? (This is coming from somebody that has spent quite a bit at Laridian over the past couple of years!)

Also, there is one that's not free on e-Sword: the New American Standard is $20.

[sracer]

I don't get it . . . how can these all be free? I know that most are public domain, but there are several translations / books that sites like Laridian charge for, i.e. The Message, Matthew Henry, Nave's, and more. Is Laridian making money off of public domain stuff, or is e-Sword giving away stuff that should be paid for? (This is coming from somebody that has spent quite a bit at Laridian over the past couple of years!)

Also, there is one that's not free on e-Sword: the New American Standard is $20.

Laridian is probably charging for the service of converting the raw text of that particular translation into Laridian's format. That is reasonable. Both eSword and OliveTree do not charge for those translations that they have permission to use. Not all of the "free" ones on eSword and OliveTree are "public domain". I know for a fact that "God's Word" is copyrighted and that they have given permission to eSword and OliveTree to use their translation free-of-charge.

[sracer]

Is it just me or does the KJVw/Strong's just display the number and nothing else?

Umm, you ARE aware that you have to download and install the Strong's Dictionary in addition to the KJV w/Strongs, right?

[sracer]

There are some serious performance issues with this version of Pocket eSword. Because it uses some MS SQL libraries it takes upwards of 15 seconds to load a Bible on my 400Mhz iPAQ 2215. In contrast, it takes less than a second to load the same translation into OliveTree.

On top of that, the translations appear to be 2-3 times larger in filesize than the equivalent ones in OliveTree.

I really hope that they can improve the performance because it looks VERY nice.

[ApostolicFire]

I just downloaded most of it and I love it :) It runs a lot quicker than my Laridian software.

[Godsongz]

I'm going to pull this down and check it out, but I don't see it replacing the other Bible readers I already use. This is getting to be like ebook readers, having to have multiple programs to make the best use of all your data. I have used and loved Laridian's software for years, but also keep Olivetree's installed because its the only way I can read the New American Bible translation (Catholic) on my PPC. Now another.. :)

[crimsonsky]

Remember this is a first release, so I expect it will get better in the future. Startup is a bit slow, but once it's up it's as fast as Pocket Bible. And the issue with the SIP unless you're on the Notes tab is slightly annoying, but not a deal-breaker.

What I enjoy is the vast number of study tools that are available. It would cost major bucks to get all these tools from Laridian or QuickVerse, or other sources.

Now if only he'd release a Palm version so I can use it on my T3 as well!

[tanalasta]

Yay! off to try it right now :) Been considering buying a copy of the message for quite a while now... Guess laridian's finally got some competition! hmm... before i install it does anybody know if the program installs/runs well from a storage card? I don't have 5MB of RAM left! :oops:

Oooo.... and then i can bring it to the planetshakers conference next week! :)

[24va]

Is it just me or does the KJVw/Strong's just display the number and nothing else?

Umm, you ARE aware that you have to download and install the Strong's Dictionary in addition to the KJV w/Strongs, right?

LOL... I am now! Thanks!

[Andy Sjostrom]

Thanks for mentioning QuickVerse, also! I used to use QV waaay back in the late eighties! Great to see that they are still around and that they also seem to have a Pocket PC version!

[baker]

I now mainly use the QV PDA Life Application Bible (received it as a gift). You may pick verse dividers (small lines to seperate each verse) and this makes reading easy for me. The reference material is nice, but it is not as deeply formated or easy to use as Laridian's. With Laridian you can always jump from Bible to Ref and Ref to Bible. It only works both ways in QV PDA some of the time. Pocket e-Sword is nice. Having Strong's is nice. 'I've got an e-310 though with most memory gone and wouldn't want to what on the program on the SD card. It takes a pretty good while to load.

[GadgetMan]

I have used and loved Laridian's software for years, but also keep Olivetree's installed because its the only way I can read the New American Bible translation (Catholic) on my PPC. Now another.. :)

I was thinkging about buying NAB from OliveTree but I wonder if all the notes are included? Can you see them in the parsing window? How about introductions to Bible books? Are they included?

Cheers,

[GadgetMan]

before i install it does anybody know if the program installs/runs well from a storage card? I don't have 5MB of RAM left!

Yes, you can install Pocket e-Sward application (i.e. the main execitable and some DLL's) on a storage card. You can then copy each bible/dictionary/commentary/devotional to the storage card directory you installed the main application to.

However, it will still eat up a lot of your RAM, since:

- It installs a font file into \Windows\Fonts directory that is over 2 MB in size. I think this are Hebrew & Greek fonts to be used with Strong's Dictionary, so if you do not plan to use Strong's, you should be able to delete this font file (you can only do it from ActiveSync's Explorer window while your PPC is connected to your desktop/notebook).

- It installs MS SQL CE edition engine and client into main RAM.

So, overall you are looking at something like 4.0 MB of RAM gone, even if you install the program and all resource books on a storage card. You can recover 2.0 MB after installation by deleting the font file (I forgot it's name, but is is so big you will not miss it), which will reduce the total RAM footprint of Pocket e-Sword to approx. 2.0 MB.

Also, keep in mind that each book for Pocket e-Sword is 2-3 times bigger than the same book from Laridian. This - I suspect - has to do with SQL database format chosen by the developer.

Cheers,

[Godsongz]

I was thinkging about buying NAB from OliveTree but I wonder if all the notes are included? Can you see them in the parsing window? How about introductions to Bible books? Are they included?

Yes, its all there. At least with the latest version of the reader software. The previous one didn't play as nicely with WM2003 though the problems only showed up when dealing with the notes/intros.

Anyway, back to e-Sword... very nice app, will very much look forward to a little more polished version.

[Len M.]

The Hebrew TaNaKh is not yet available for Pocket E-Sword. We Jews will just have to be patient!


Len M.

[Confucian Cougar]

I downloaded the program and installed it, then downloaded two bibles. I have the program on the memory, and the bibles on the sd card. I did what It told me about making the e-sword file and putting the bibles in there, but when i try to get the program to run it tells me it cannot find any resources to use, it then gives me the list to find out where to pull the info from, and I select the e-sword file on the sd card that the bibles are in, and it gives me the same error. I figgured maybe it was a problem with the installation, and tried to delete the program and start over, but it will not let me do that because it says it is either running or it is write only,... Arrrrrgh. I Really wanna use this utility!!! Please help me figgure this out!


Edit: Oh, and I am using an iPaq 1945, if that matters, trying to install the pocket pc 2002 software, Should I use the other one?

[baker]

I believe you should have downloaded 2003.
From HP for a 1945
operating system Microsoft® Windows® Mobile 2003 Professional software for Pocket PC

[chasmanor]

I can't seem to "page down" with the wheel on my HP 2215 within pocket e-sword. Is it just me or is this a problem for anyone else?

[nategesner]

I haven't been able to page down, either. I don't see an option to toggle it on or off, so it's probably not built in.

Is anyone having problems getting the program to shut down? Every time I try to close it, it doesn't work. The application appears to shut down, but then the icon appears up by the start menu and my input selection button (keyboard, block write, etc) remains at the bottom right. Once this happens, the Ipaq locks and won't do anything without a soft reset.

I'm using an Ipaq 2215 with PPC 2003 (five months old) and this is the first time I've had software require a reset. Any help is appreciated.

[GadgetMan]

It seems you have to tap in the acrtive window before you can use the scroll button (or up/down buttons). When you switch from, say, Bible to, say, Commentary, you need to now tap inside Commentary window as well, before scroll buttons get activated. Then you go back to Bible window and again you have to tap inside this window for scroll butons to work.

This is becoming VERY annoying....

Cheers,

[bobyeo]

I downloaded both e-sword and the Douay-Rheims bible.
Installation of the e-sword was straightforward.
The Douay-Rheims bible was unzipped and tranferred to my Jornada 568.

Lo and behold, the e-sword does not recognise this bible.
I downloaded the ASV and tried to unzipped it but it crashed.

I then decided that it was too problematic to keep e-sword without a workable bible and so decided to uninstall it.

But Lo and Behold! It will not uninstall - with the error message that part of the program is in use and to close the application.

Checked but the application was already closed!
Error message indicated that a font file was in use.
The font file was deleted - program still will not uninstall!

Deleted the e-sword sub-directory from the Programs directory.
Start Menu still listed e-sword but program not found!

Tried to reinstall the e-sword but it went through the installation process with nothing except creating an e-sword sub-directory.

Redeleted sub-directory and tried uninstalling e-sword with same error message.

However, now e-sword menu no longer appears in start menu.

Conclusion:
Buggy program, buggy software.
PDA user's nightmare!

[GadgetMan]

The font file installed by Pocket E-sword is the one that you are told is being used.

You have to delete font file from \Windows\Fonts directory through Windows Explorer on your desktop, while your pocket pc is connected to your desktop.

Only after that you will be able to successfully uninstall Pocket e-Sword.

Cheers,

[nategesner]

I had trouble uninstalling as well. The process was made way too complex and most users won't be able to figure it out on their own.

I'm still not able to get the program to shut down properly. It leaves an icon next to the start button and it leaves the input selection button in the bottom right of my screen. Anyone else see this?

I am going to continue trying it out, but I'm starting to think I need to wait until the next revision when some of these issues are fixed. I have used OliveTree for quite a while and it doesn't have these bugs, includes a lot more books, and has more functionality.

[bobyeo]

Thanks George.
:)

But why should a program installed on a PDA require to be connected to a desktop for uninstallation?

What about the problem about no resources available when trying to read an installed bible? Any solutions?
:|

[GadgetMan]

But why should a program installed on a PDA require to be connected to a desktop for uninstallation?

It's not the program, it's the font. For some reasons (ask Microsoft) any font installed on Pocket PC can only be uninstalled via ActiveSync file browser. Anytime you - or uninstall routine - tries to remove it directly on Pocket PC, you will get a "file in use" error message.

What about the problem about no resources available when trying to read an installed bible? Any solutions? :|

Try re-download (maybe these files got corrupted in transfer) or try other Bibles (e.g. "The Message" and "Literal Translation" work fine for me).

BTW, You may also want to follow the on-line tutorial regarding installation of resources (Bibles, commentaries,e etc.) for Pocket e-Sword. This tutorial is available at Pocket e-Sword's site.

Cheers,

[baker]

He's posted an update dated 01/14/2004
http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/downloads.html

[posprg]

I just found this forum, I have been emailing them directly with the little things I have found. With the latest update that includes scrolling with the d-pad I have no issues with the software "crashing" or not exiting normally. I have even installed ALL the software and bibles to my sd card instead of using main memory.

[cbbrown318]

Hey, Can Somebody Please HELP ME!

I'm using the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone and I've tried loading and unloading the e-sword several times. I've even done a HARD RESET and reloaded, but I still get the error message: "NATIVE EXCEPTION IN POCKET e-SWORD.EXE".

I'm using the PocketPC 2002 Download. Can anybody tell me what could be going on here? :cry:

P.S. In the "About" Section on my PPC it says: Microsoft(r) Pocket PC Version 3.0.12039 (build 11178)
Processor: ARM SA1110
31.21MB

[baker]

But why should a program installed on a PDA require to be connected to a desktop for uninstallation?

It's not the program, it's the font. For some reasons (ask Microsoft) any font installed on Pocket PC can only be uninstalled via ActiveSync file browser. Anytime you - or uninstall routine - tries to remove it directly on Pocket PC, you will get a "file in use" error message.

What about the problem about no resources available when trying to read an installed bible? Any solutions? :|

Try re-download (maybe these files got corrupted in transfer) or try other Bibles (e.g. "The Message" and "Literal Translation" work fine for me).

BTW, You may also want to follow the on-line tutorial regarding installation of resources (Bibles, commentaries,e etc.) for Pocket e-Sword. This tutorial is available at Pocket e-Sword's site.

Cheers,

Maybe it's the font? Try emailing a request to the developer?

[baker]

Updated again.. http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/downloads.html

[baker]

http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/downloads.html updated again.

[nategesner]

These are a lot of quick updates. Can someone please post what changes are made with each update? At over 5MB per download on a dial-up modem, I'd like to know whether it is worth going back for or not. Thanks!

[BWBlackett]

New updates today 17/2/04 Version 1.5

[24va]

rev 1.6 now has prayer module!!!

[baker]

It's updated: http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/downloads.html