[sword-devel] New Windows SWORD GUI

[Simon Lagendijk]

Hi Chris,

>You might consider teaming up with the group who are already working on a 
>wxWindows interface to Sword.  I'm not sure what their current status is, 
>but they have working code.  You can grab their existing code (as well as 
>their Win32 binary) from http://sourceforge.net/projects/christiangame.  
>They also have a mailing list on crosswire called wxsword-devel, but you 
>should probably get in touch with Jason Turner (lefticus) through 
>sourceforge first, if it looks like you're interested in collaboration.
>
>  
>
Thanks, I wasn't aware of the fact that there were people actually 
working on a wxWindows project... Looks very interesting...

>If you're thinking of using Sword itself (statically or dynamically 
>linked) or intend to support Sword modules by re-implementing our drivers, 
>using our code as a spec, (which I would strongly recommend against 
>attempting), I suppose that removes the need to decide on a license, since 
>these would obligate you to follow the GPL and release your work under the 
>same license.
>  
>
My approach is to have a specific (dynamical linked) DLL that 
communicates with the Sword Engine (in a apart DLL), and with my 
own-written OSIS DLL, so only the code of that specific DLL has to be 
GPL. The reason why I am not sure to release the whole code under GPL is 
that maybe I want to use some of the code for a project for school (in 
Holland, to get your Bachelor, you have to do a project or research in 
order to get your degree). After getting my Bachelors it isn't a problem 
to release all the code under GPL or LGPL, but for now I need a licence 
that keeps the main copyright of some code made by me on my name.

>>Is it possible to compile the Sword Engine in a DLL?
>>    
>>
>
>Yes, but it's pretty much discouraged.  (Binary compatability between 
>releases is not guaranteed in the dev branch.)
>
>  
>
You mean that binary releases aren't backwards compatible? But it would 
be nice that not the complete program has to be recompiled when a new 
release of the Sword Engine becomes available. Is there any hope that in 
the future releases will be backwards compatible?

>However, I would strongly recommend against trying to use OSIS documents
>directly in an interface unless you build external indices (which is
>precisely what Sword does).
>
>  
>
What I want is creating indexes for the OSIS file. I've some reasons why 
I want to be able to read 'plain OSIS files', instead of Sword modules 
containing OSIS-markup:
1) It adds some complexicty to the program, I need in order to possibly 
use the project for school
2) Adding an OSIS document then only means creating indexes, instead of 
converting to a specific module
3) OSIS contains info about the content, ie. if it contains the 
Apocryphia, or the book or mormon, or whatever someone may add to the 
Bible, it won't be a problem for displaying, because each file has it 
own info about which biblebooks it contains.
4) The original OSIS file stays unmodified, so they can be easely used 
by other programs that can read OSIS files.

Thanks for your reply!

Simon