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E-Sword's new Version 9

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I now recommend
    THEWORD over e-sword
compare e-sword|theword

  Module Downloads 

 David Cox Created Mods
**Version 9 format modules**

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  How to use...? 

How to use e-Sword (4/07)
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e-Sword Utilities

MSWord Macros for s-Sword
esword MEd (11/07)
esword FIn (11/07)
Chads Commentary Creator
Best 2.11 & BPest

   How to Create Modules 

Module Creation Updated!
e-Sword MEd
My Word Macros updated! Jan09
Creating Bible Modules Updated!
Creating Commentaries Mods Updated!
Creating Dictionary Mods Updated!
Creating Topic Mods Updated!
Creating Devotional Mods New!
Creating Illustration Mods New!

Finnish Resources for -Esword
Swedish Resources for e-Sword

  Should I upgrade to version 9 of e-Sword? 

Please note all version 9 issues will be dealt with on this page, so check back here from time to time!

My Site "davidcox.com.mx/e-swordmodules": I am converting and posting my modules. I am in the "B"s.
As a temporary step, go here to redownload my modules in version 9.

Anchors on this Page: passwordlocked

  Introduction 

A lot of people are asking me if they should upgrade to version 9. Let me tell you what I know and let you decide for yourself. First of all, there are really no features that would warrant the upgrade. Perhaps in a future version of e-Sword it will be worth it. In general you can continue to use a pre version 9 version without problems.

The basic difference in version 9 is that the changed database format underlying all modules. So NO MODULE IN A PREVIOUS VERSION WILL WORK WITH VERSION 9. All must be converted to the new format. I am using version 9 now, and I have old versions of e-Sword to revert back if I have to do so. Please do not delete your install version of version 8. You might want to go back if you have to do so.

How does the conversion of modules work?

Very simply, when you install version 9 over a previous version of e-Sword already installed in your computer, it will convert all of the modules you currently have into the new format.

WARNING! The installation of version 9 will not convert locked modules, only unlocked modules. So you will lose your locked modules into the new version format. If you have purchased a module that is locked, please contact whomever you purchased it from, and they should give you a new version of the module.

I am still working with the e-Sword official individual module converter, and I am finding that it has a lot of problems. The basic problem is that it will only convert one module at a time, and it also has a real problem identifying if a module is locked or not. I have unlocked modules that it says is locked. Since I created these modules, it would seem that the state locked or unlocked is dubious anymore. Some modules, even unlocked modules, are just not going to be available in version 9 unless you copy and paste it into a new version 9 module type. A TOP is difficult, a DCT Dictionary is a real pain, and a commentary or Bible is next to impossible to copy over again by copy and paste method. Thanks Rick Meyers for screwing up things royally.

Update: (July 1, 2009) - Somebody has written suggesting that the problem might not be a password lock, but a database lock, or a read-only file attribute. If it is locked by a Database (e-Sword is essentially a database program), then shutting down the database program that has a lock on it should release the lock. Sometimes if the program is shut down other than the normal exit button (i.e. you kill it in the Processes window with a Ctrl-Alt-Del), then the lock may remain. In such a case you will need to reboot your computer. I am seeing that some of my modules are read-only which will not convert. So you need to make them writeable (read-write) in order to convert them.

How to remove the read-only attribute from a file - (1) Start button on Windows. (2) Execute option. (3) type in "CMD" (enter). This will get you a dos box. Navigate to the folder where e-Sword is (CD "C:\programs\e-sword") Note the parentheses are mandatory if you have spaces in the path to your e-Sword directory, otherwise they are not. (4) See if some are read only (Type "DIR AR" enter) (5) run the Windows DOS command ATTRIB ("attrib *.top -R" ENTER). (6) Check to see if there are still some readonly ("DIR AR") (6) Exit the DOS box by typing "Exit" (ENTER)

 

Somebody has made a better version 9 converter, Convertidor Release, and you can download it here: Convertidor Release.zip This program will do a batch convert of a whole folder at one time, but again, it appears that some modules will give a false positive of being locked when they are not.

WARNINGS FOR EVERYBODY

From now on, we will be constantly having to check what version a module is in when we download it. Pre-version 9 modules won't be visible or available for version 9 e-Sword until they are converted, and version 9 modules won't work in any version previous to 9. So this is life for us from now on. To tell the difference, e-Sword will append an "x" to the extension of version 9 format module. kjv.bbl becomes kjv.bblx.

The e-Sword official installation of version 9 will convert version 8 modules to verison 9 when it is installed, renaming old modules with a second extension ".old". So kjv.bbl will be converted to kjv.bblx, and the original file will be renamed kjv.bbl.old. So this effectively doubles the space requirements when converting your modules to version 9. In the case of some people who have more than a gigabyte of modules, this could present serious problems. (I have about 11 gigabytes of modules, and so my e-Sword folder now is at 22 gigabytes, making backing it up a pain to deal with besides everything else).

If you have a hex editor viewer, you can tell which is which no matter what the name or extension of the module is. Open a doubtful module in the hex editor, and for pre-version 9 modules, there are 4 bytes, and then the words "Standard Jet DB". For a version 9 module, this is replaced with the first characters of the file being "SQLite format 3".

WARNINGS FOR THOSE WHO STAY WITH A PRE-VERSION 9

If you use any of the versions of e-Sword, don't think this will be easy for you. People will probably start posting all their new modules in version 9 format which you cannot use. There is no conversion from 9 back to 8 for the modules. I believe that all of the modules on the official e-Sword site are now version 9 and the version 8 modules are unavailable.

If you have problems with conversion of your modules from version 8 to version 9, please write Rick Meyers, and tell him your problems. I have suggested that e-Sword v9 make a routine every time e-Sword opens to check for old modules and convert them. It hasn't been implemented. If you don't like this situation, please write an email by leaving a message on http://www.e-sword.net/feedback.html

WARNINGS FOR THOSE WITH VERSION 9

The good news is that your interface is snappy, and a bit better in my estimation. The bad news is that you will have a lot of problems with modules for a long time.

Before you upgrade to version 9 IMPORTANT!!!!

Before you upgrade to version 9, please open a windows explorer and move all your module files from C:\programs\e-Sword to C:\Documents and Settings\[User]\e-Sword. The version 9 conversion process will not convert anything in your C:\programs\e-Sword folder. If you have 2 users on one machine each using modules, tough, only one will be updated.

I have an old format module, how do I convert it?

I wrote Rick about this (because we make modules and will have problems with this), and his answer was that you have retrigger the e-Sword version 9 conversion process again. I will quote exactly what he told me.

As to the automatic conversion of the TOP files, I previously stated that
this will only occur on the ones located in the e-Sword *USER* directory.
Simply moving them into the new user directory will not get them converted.

However, if you delete the following entry from the Registry it will go
through the conversion process again.  So place the module files to be
converted into the USER directory, delete the "Convert User Files" entry
from the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VB and VBA Program
Settings\e-Sword\Settings" key, then start e-Sword.

So every time you download a module from the Internet and it won't show in e-Sword, it is probably an old format version module, and you will need to play with the Windows registry to convert it. Note: I just tried to do the above, and my Registry doesn't have that entry ("Settings") in it. Good luck with this advice. (The other alternative would be to uninstall e-Sword and reinstall it every time you get new modules in the old version.

General Advice

In general, I would not recommend anybody to upgrade to version 9. There simply is no reason to cause you lose access to your version 8 modules. Conversion is not always possible. Therefore you have to weigh the advantages of using version 9 over version 8. What are those advantages? Nothing. Version 9 has absolutely no advantages except the ability to make notes in the Apocrypha. (Is this a feature even 1% of the e-Sword base will use? No. I doubt even 1%.)

So DON'T UPGRADE TO VERSION 9!

Personally I am migrating to a new free Bible program, THEWORD (www.theword.net) which has so many more features than e-Sword that it has left e-Sword in the dust! You can search all or groups of your modules, and it has support for a lot more useful features than e-Sword. My whole module library is now converted to THEWORD format, and I am making the pages for TW. Please go here to see them.