[sword-devel] The Abbreviation key in Config files

[David Haslam]

Some modules in some repositories make use of the Abbreviation key.

This key is documented in the devlopers' wiki:
https://wiki.crosswire.org/DevTools:conf_Files 

Note 2 reads: "We advise against explicitly declaring a redundant Abbreviation identical to the ModName. Abbreviation values should try to be unique to avoid user confusion."

It's not just users that are confused!
Front-end apps can also be confused.

e.g. In Xiphos, if I have both the CrossWire KJV module installed and either of these modules from eBible.org also installed:
* engKJV2006eb - which has Abbreviation=KJV
* engKJV1769eb - which has Abbreviation=KJVD
After I do a search (while the KJV module is selected) and then click one of the search results, the module in the selected tab switches to one with the same Abbreviation.

This ought not to be the case!

I don't think this is a software bug in Xiphos, per se.

I think that the software is simply confused by the use of an Abbreviation key that's identical to the Name of another installed module!

We should already know that module names must be unique, even if they come from different repositories.

We should also mandate that module abbreviations must not match that of any other module from any available repository!


Best regards,

David

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.