CWSB (et al.) Beta - Started 6/15/10

[chriscoleman]

New beta today with several bug fixes and a few minor enhancements:

CWSB support - This is the main purpose of the beta: Complete Word Study Bible is finally going to be supported on BlackBerry.
- This title is still marked as unavailable for BlackBerry in the store for the duration of the beta, but you will be able to download the title from the beta version of the app if it is in your account.
- Also note that because the dictionary includes Greek and Hebrew text you should install the free BlackBerry Font Pack (link for manual install or find it in the in-app store) if you haven't already.
- These fonts will be downloaded with the CWSB once the product is live on the store, but for the beta period they will have to be downloaded separately.

Library Cache - Should improve library screen load time (dropped the load time on my test device from 20 seconds down to 5).
- Will be further improved at a later date by pre-loading the library after the app starts.

Dictionary Screen - For any and all dictionaries, the default navigation will now be a special screen where you can type in the word you are looking for and it will jump to that word in the list (so type part of a word if you dont know how to spell it).

Also, the one major bug fix that some will be interested in is that I have implemented side to side scrolling to loop through both rows of the main menu, which should help some people who have had trouble reaching the second row of icons.
If clicking an icon with the track ball doesn't work for some reason, use the enter key instead. (this applies for all icon menus in the app)

4.10.004732:
Fixed large verse number display issue
Fixed verse reference search issue
Fixed Hebrew display issue.
Added "Remove" button in library

4.10.004880:
New search syntax: searches for all words unless you use quotes or the OR keyword.
Added documentation for new search syntax, including examples
Removed search type selector (All words, Any words, Exact phrase, Advanced) since it no longer applies with the new search syntax
Removed "simple search" feature which was originally part of this beta. (It was determined that this wasn't really a useful feature)
Fixed search for Online Book Store

Download links:
Non-Storm OTA and manual
Storm OTA and manual

[sgreen]

Chris,

I've been using the Beta for a while; library is quicker (that's nice), search is a bit better (great), the copy verse feature is a big plus, I don't use CWSB so I don't know about that. One thing, I'm not sure the library is updating properly. I decided I was done with a ebook (Pilgram's Progress) so I used a file system program I have and deleted it from the olivetree directory. I went into Bible Reader and then exited by the menu, reentered and went back to the library, the ebook still shows up. When I try to select it I get message "Cannot open file. The filename or path may be incorrect." I've since exited by the menu and reentered several times but no change. I'm really looking forward to some of the other updates especially split screen and the speed improvements. Thanks for yourefforts.

By the way you've said most of the slowness is due to a slow file system on the bb do you know if it's any better if I get a faster SD card? Mine is an old card so it's probably not the fastest and it's only 1G.

Sol

[chriscoleman]

A faster SD card would probably help, but it is largely an OS/phone hardware issue.

I will fix the library not updating and release a new version of the beta hopefully this week.

[chriscoleman]

New version of the beta has been uploaded (it has the same version number, but dont be fooled).

This version includes a missing file that caused sporadic crashes as well as a "rescan" button in the library for when you have done a manual install or deletion of a resource on your SD card.

Also, the "register" button has been placed in all of the library menus and the "my account" screen menu instead of just the main screen of the library.

The links above have been changed and the links on our mobile and desktop websites should update later today or tomorrow.

[Jeff]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your efforts on the BlackBerry version of the BibleReader. I have the Bold 9000 and I installed your latest beta as of 07/09/2010. Here are a few very minor observations that I made and these items may have nothing to do with the latest update but with the BibleReader for BlackBerry in general.

- The copyright notice at startup still reads 2009 and I do not know if that was intentional or an oversight.
- When you select the Verse chooser option, the background color does not match the color selected for the Bible
- When you select About BibleReader there are some symbols at the end of the line.
- I noticed that at the end of some of the lines in the Ryrie Study Bible the background color is white instead of the color selected (I had Wheat selected).
- I did notice that the Library takes a bit longer to open when you select it from the menu key but not much.
- I had the same issue as Sol with the Library not removing items that were deleted from the folder and that seems to work fine now.

Thanks again for your work on the BibleReader.

Jeff

[armatek]

I'm using the beta version 4.10.004288 dated 06-07-2010, with ot_Bible-TBIndonesia.pdb (paid)

There was a slight problem in the search, could not find a verse if writing with three letters only, for example wants to find Joshua 1:7 or 2 Corinthians 3:4

Press "S" to start the search, then write:
Search for: Jos 1:7 -> NOT FOUND
Search for: 2Co 3:4 -> NOT FOUND

We are required to write the complete verse, like this:
Search for: Joshua 1:7 -> found
Search for: 2 Corinthians 3:4 -> found

This is very inconvenient.

While the beta version 4.10.004288 earlier (dated 15-06-2010) there is no problem in the search, all the verse can be found by writing three letters, eg:
Search for: Jos 1:7 -> found
Search for: 2Co 3:4 -> found

Hopefully this is a concern, because it is very inconvenient if you want to find a verse, must be written in full.

Thanks

[chriscoleman]

Ah. I know why this might be happening.

I will try to get it fixed before the beta period is over.

In the mean time, select "exact phrase" instead of "all words" or "any words" as the search type and the verse reference searches should work as expected.


Also: It may not be ready in time for this beta, but I am working hard on improving the search experience in general (that screen is my least favorite in the app). Based on what I have accomplished so far, I think you will like it.

[jkisiel]

Hi Chris,

I am using the latest beta release that you have posted as of 08/05/2010 and I just went to KJV Psa 119:130 and it goes to the correct verse but the top banner just states KJV Psa 119 and is missing the verse number. When you click on the verse number 130 and then click on Copy Verse it copies Psa 119:1 and not Psa 119:130.

Jeff

[chriscoleman]

Thanks, that's good to know.

I will see if I can track down why that might be happening.

[jkisiel]

Hi Chris,

The issue with the verse missing from the top banner and the copy verse issue appears to happen for KJV Psa 119:128 all the way through KJV Psa 119:176 and I also tried other Bible translations and the same issue appears on those as well.

Jeff

[chriscoleman]

jkisiel: Thanks for checking. I found the bug yesterday and fixed it.

Turns out this particular line of code has been there from the first version of our app for Blackberry, but the effect has only now shown up because of recent changes in how we determine our current location.

There should be a new beta out today with this and the verse reference search issue fixed, plus I am adding a "remove" button in the library so you dont have to manually delete files from your card anymore!

[chriscoleman]

New build is up (4.10.004732) and the links in the first post have been updated (the link on our mobile page will be updated soon)

This build fixes a Hebrew text bug, the verse numbers in psalms bug and the searching for a verse reference bug.

Also in this build is a "remove" option in the library so you no longer have to manually delete files from your blackberry.

NOTE: there is also an addition to this build which forces a critical document update for the NAB and alerts you that updates are available for several other major bibles.
These updates are not dynamic, they are baked in to the app, so future updates to documents on our server will not notify you (though that is a feature we are working on).

Let me know if you have any issues in the next week or so, otherwise this will be the last iteration of this beta.

Thanks for all of your feedback!

[jontko]

Just downloaded KJV with strongs for the purpose of viewing Greek & hebrew definitions. When I click on a strongs link the cursor disappears and nothing else happens. I downloaded the new beta version of the reader. Help. How do I fix this?

[chriscoleman]

I cannot seem to reproduce this.

First, try closing the app from the menu and then relaunching it. This solves most temporary glitches.
(Note that this is not the same action as hitting the red "end" key or switching to another app because the app will be totally shut down instead of just hidden)

If the problem continues after you relaunch it, please tell me where specifically you are seeing the trouble (what verse in the bible).

[chriscoleman]

Ha ha, "last iteration"...

A new beta is up (4.10.004880) and the links in the first post have been updated. Links on our website will update soon.

The main purpose of this update is to introduce the new search which gets rid of one of the search options in favor of a more expressive syntax.

The documentation for this new syntax as well as many example searches are now included at the bottom of the search screen.