[jsword-devel] BibleDesktop 2.0 wish list

[DM Smith]

The purpose of this e-mail is two-fold:
1) What do we want in the next major release of BibleDesktop (or along 
the way to its release)? This can be features or fundamental changes.
2) What would you like to work on?

A few features I'd like to see:
1) Strong set of tools suitable for biblical research.
    a) Translation comparison. Two translations in parallel columns are 
represented as a "word diff" in a third column with strike out and 
additions clearly represented.
    b) Transliteration display of non-Latin alphabets.
    c) Improved search.
       i) Transliteration search
       ii) Accent insensitive search.
       iv) Synonym and related term search.
       v) Stem search for supported languages (e.g. depluralization, 
root words, ...)
       vi) Strong cross reference. (E.g. find all verses having a 
particular Strong's number; Find all the ways that a strong's number is 
represented in the text)
2) Improved usability:
    a) Persistence to the desktop. It remembers "view" choices, window 
sizing and placement.
    b) Personalization of the desktop. The user can choose what makes up 
the desktop and how it should be arranged.
    c) Ability to create a personal commentary, notes, annotations and 
the like for a bible. (All this requires is the ability to write a module.)
    d) Better display of the Bible text. (Since it will be a full 
fledged browser, with javascript, make it more interactive)
    e) Better navigation in Search History.
    f) Allow for customization on a per module basis (e.g. font 
characteristics, view settings, ...)
    g) Integrated help.

Some architectural changes:
1) A framework which would make it easy for others to develop optional 
capabilities that can be easily discovered, imported, used and, if not 
needed, discarded. Ultimately, a core download should be pretty small 
and feature light.
    (It would have been great if Don could have used such a framework 
for the Journaling capabilities he is adding.)
2) Rendering using a modern browser.
3) An ability to work directly with OSIS files.
4) A lightweight core API that can be used on mobile devices such as 
phones and PDAs. (We may have this already)
5) Able to use any 1.4.2 Java runtime, with GJC being a specific target. 
The goal is to be fully open source. Currently we are reliant on closed 
source java.
6) Use 3rd party code as a replacement. E.g. preferences, plugins, ....