[sword-devel] Ezra Bible App 1.19 released

Kahunapule Michael Paul Johnson kahunapule at mpj.cx
Mon Mar 30 16:25:55 EDT 2026 

Yes. If you want slow performance, keep using FTP. If you want faster performance, please use HTTPS. Also, if you want faster performance, download https://eBible.org/sword/mods.d.tar.gz once and decompress it rather than iterating through each file within the mods.d directory individually. Downloading one compressed module description file with HTTPS instead of 1,530 (and counting) individual conf files gives you more speed and more reliability because:

  * The FTP server on ftp.ebible.org has a fairly low connection limit, and if more than 10 connections are active at the same time, at least one file download will out of 1,530. This does NOT scale well. I am supporting FTP for dinosaurs, not modern software. I COULD raise that limit, but there will always be a limit that is lower than the number of Sword users, and there are risks to doing that.
  * The FTP server on ftp.ebible.org is hosted on a slower machine with a slower network connection than the one that hosts HTTPS on eBible.org. Not only that, but currently, if you try ftp://eBible.org, it will work, but only by port forwarding to the same ftp.ebible.org machine.
  * FTP is frowned upon by most people as being an archaic, insecure, and frequently-abused protocol. For that reason, FTP is blocked by default in modern browsers. For that reason, I'm disinclined to spend more resources on supporting it at a higher level.
  * My FTP server is trivial to take offline with a DDOS attack.
  * HTTPS is supported by curl and sword.
  * The machine hosting HTTPS on eBible.org is a very fast computer with solid state drives, lots of RAM, and a fiber optic connection to the Internet that tests at over 2 gigabits/second sending data back to you (and over 3 gigabits/second taking your requests). It does not have a connection limit like one that is necessary on FTP, but rather is limited only by bandwidth, processing power, and RAM, all of which are greater than the average dedicated server. Every Sword user on the planet could probably try
    to update at once without crashing it.
  * Downloading https://ebible.org/sword/mods.d.tar.gz and decompressing it gains speed because it is compressed, and fewer bytes have to be transmitted to get the same information.
  * Downloading https://ebible.org/sword/mods.d.tar.gz and decompressing it gains speed because there is only ONE file setup negotiation to do, not 1,530 (or more in the future).

Switching from FTP to HTTPS takes a few minutes of coding time for you. Switching from iterating through over a thousand files to downloading one file and decompressing it takes a bit more programming time. However, if the point is to write Bible study software that people who hate wasting time will actually use, that would be time well spent.

Any questions?


On 3/30/26 09:29, contact at tklein.info wrote:
> So I instrumented the SWORD code ... here is some log output from the instrumented code (RemoteTransport::copyDirectory):
>
> [DIAG copyDirectory] Downloading file 67/1530: apppbt2019eb.conf (3656 bytes)
> [DIAG CURLFTPTransport::getURL] URL='ftp://ftp.ebible.org/sword/mods.d/apppbt2019eb.conf' timeoutMillis=20000 term=0
> [DIAG CURLFTPTransport::getURL] curl_easy_perform returned 0 (No error) elapsed=1538 ms URL='ftp://ftp.ebible.org/sword/mods.d/apppbt2019eb.conf'
> [DIAG copyDirectory] File download result=0 elapsed=1538 ms
> [DIAG copyDirectory] Downloading file 68/1530: apr2013eb.conf (3997 bytes)
> [DIAG CURLFTPTransport::getURL] URL='ftp://ftp.ebible.org/sword/mods.d/apr2013eb.conf' timeoutMillis=20000 term=0
> [DIAG CURLFTPTransport::getURL] curl_easy_perform returned 0 (No error) elapsed=1435 ms URL='ftp://ftp.ebible.org/sword/mods.d/apr2013eb.conf'
> [DIAG copyDirectory] File download result=0 elapsed=1435 ms
> [DIAG copyDirectory] Downloading file 69/1530: apu2004eb.conf (6733 bytes)
> [DIAG CURLFTPTransport::getURL] URL='ftp://ftp.ebible.org/sword/mods.d/apu2004eb.conf' timeoutMillis=20000 term=0
> [DIAG CURLFTPTransport::getURL] curl_easy_perform returned 0 (No error) elapsed=1435 ms URL='ftp://ftp.ebible.org/sword/mods.d/apu2004eb.conf'
> [DIAG copyDirectory] File download result=0 elapsed=1435 ms
>
> You see that the function is working on downloading individual *.conf files from eBible.org.
> Each download takes its time ... 1.5 seconds!
> Then of course with 1530 files to be downloaded we are talking about an endless operation ...
>
> Any advice?
>
> Best regards,
> Tobias
>
> On 3/30/26 08:57, contact at tklein.info wrote:
>> I am now also observing the "freeze" during repository refresh (also on PC) and it is related to eBible.org. I debugged a little and found that it is the C++ code calling the SWORD library that hangs at installMgr->refreshRemoteSource.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Tobias
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* David Haslam <dfhdfh at protonmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Sunday, 29 March 2026 21:50
>> *To:* sword-devel mailing list <sword-devel at crosswire.org>
>> *Cc:* contact at tklein.info <contact at tklein.info>
>> *Subject:* Re: [sword-devel] Ezra Bible App 1.19 released
>> The STEP Bible repo could be accessed from PocketSword just now, and even also 10 minutes or so before I read your email.
>>
>> David
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 20:46, Fr Cyrille <fr.cyrille at tiberiade.be <mailto:On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 20:46, Fr Cyrille <<a href=>> wrote:
>>> I think step bible.
>>>
>>> Le 29/03/2026 à 18:10, contact at tklein.info <mailto:contact at tklein.info> a écrit :
>>>> Hi Fr. Cyrille and David,
>>>>
>>>> I have observed this behavior from time to time. Not sure which repository is causing this.
>>>> I will investigate. The only thing I can advise here is to try again later. I agree that the behavior for individual repositories that are unavailable should not block the entire operation.
>>>> Note that this functionality (basic module assistant and repo updates) was not changed in 1.19, so at least this is not a regression.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> Tobias
>>>>
>>>> On 3/29/26 17:53, Fr Cyrille wrote:
>>>>> Hi Tobias same problem on Android ! I'm very interested by Ezra!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Le 29 mars 2026 16:24:51 GMT+01:00, David Haslam <dfhdfh at protonmail.com> <mailto:dfhdfh at protonmail.com> a écrit :
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     Hi Tobias,
>>>>>
>>>>>     Just installed it in my iPad Mini 4 which has iPadOS 15.8.7 (latest supported).
>>>>>
>>>>>     The following occurs whether or not the connection is via a VPN Server.
>>>>>
>>>>>     It gets stuck at 90% during Loading Languages, and eventually displays an error message.
>>>>>
>>>>>     Is perchance one of the repositories currently offline? If so, it ought to respond gracefully and work with those that are currently accessible.
>>>>>
>>>>>     Or was the root cause something else entirely ?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     Regards,
>>>>>
>>>>>     David Haslam
>>>>>
>>>>>     On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 14:27, contact at tklein.info <mailto:contact at tklein.info> < contact at tklein.info <mailto:On Sun, Mar 29, 2026 at 14:27, contact at tklein.info <<a href=>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Ezra Bible App 1.19 has been released. This release introduces *iOS and iPadOS support*, bringing Ezra Bible App to Apple mobile devices for the first time. It also includes improvements to mobile usability, enhanced module handling, and various bug fixes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     https://github.com/ezra-bible-app/ezra-bible-app/releases/tag/1.19.0
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Downloads are available for all supported platforms, including updated versions in Google Play <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.ezrabibleapp.cordova&hl=de> and the Apple App Store <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ezra-bible-app/id6757127895>.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Note-worthy improvements and fixes are:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>       * Add iOS and iPadOS support.
>>>>>>       * Visualize footnotes on the mobile version.
>>>>>>       * Support image handling in SWORD modules.
>>>>>>       * Support custom Dropbox module repositories and Dropbox-based ZIP installations.
>>>>>>       * Make the list of shown commentaries configurable in the commentary side panel.
>>>>>>       * Make text in the word study panel selectable and copyable.
>>>>>>       * Improve tablet usability, including an optimized book selection menu in portrait orientation.
>>>>>>       * Fix various issues related to search, verse positioning, commentary alignment, and text rendering.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Thanks to the translators (Martin, Marjan, Tom, Augustin, Reinaldo, Evgen).
>>>>>>     Thanks also to Karl who helped me a lot with beta testing on iOS / iPadOS.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I am happy about any feedback.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Best regards,
>>>>>>     Tobias
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> sword-devel mailing list
>>>>> sword-devel at crosswire.org <mailto:sword-devel at crosswire.org>
>>>>> https://crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel <https://crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> sword-devel mailing list
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>>>> https://crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel <https://crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Vous aimez la Bible ? Vous êtes étudiant en théologie ? Utilisez l'application libre Xiphos <https://xiphos.org/> ou Andbible <https://andbible.github.io/> et accédez aux textes sources, à des commentaires, des dictionnaires et beaucoup d'autres fonctionnalités... Me contacter pour des traductions en français.
>>>
>>
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*/Michael Johnson/**
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