The Import Assistant is available through menu File / Import. It can import a variety of data into Bibledit. The various options are described below.
Bibledit can import existing Biblical text. It imports various formats of the texts. These formats are described below.
Bibledit can import USFM text.
If it says that a file is not in Unicode, it is recommended to open this file in gedit, and then save it in UTF-8 format. The program "gedit" is an editor that comes with Linux. Other editors will work well too.
Bibledit can import text that has been exported from BibleWorks. This is how to do it: In BibleWorks choose Tools - Export Database. Export the Bible of your choice to a file and save it in Text format. Then do the Import in Bibledit.
Note: This is out of order.
Data from the Online Bible can be imported into Bibledit. This can be done in two simple steps. 1. Export the data from the Online Bible. And 2. Import the data into Bibledit.
As an example we are going to import the commentary written by Matthew Poole into Bibledit.
Export the Poole commentary from the Online Bible. Certain options need to be set in the Online Bible so that only the text is exported that is wanted, without extra bits. The exported file is in Rich Text Format, and should look like the sample below.
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Genesis 50:24 (Poole)
Ver. 24. God will surely visit you, i.e. deliver you out of this place, where I foresee you will be hardly used after my decease; or, fulfil his promised kindness to you, as that word is used, Ge 21:1 Ex 4:31. There is a double visitation oft mentioned in Scripture; the one of grace and mercy, which is here meant; the other of justice and anger, as elsewhere.
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In the example above, the important thing is that there is one line that shows the reference, and below that any text follows. The line with the reference starts with the name of the book in English, then a chapter, a colon and the verse, and finally the name of the commentary in brackets. Bibledit can only import files if these are in this format.
The data is in Rich Text Format, and needs to be converted to plain text. Conversion can be done with several word processors. Next the file "poole.txt" should be stored somewhere, e.g. in the home directory. From there it can be imported normally.
Be aware that after clicking on the OK button in the import dialog, importing the whole of Poole, or even a few books, can take a long time due to the inefficient implementation of some of the code. It may seem that the system hangs. But this is not the case.
Importing raw text involves manual labour. The following steps would be required:
1. View the USFM code. This can be done through menu View / USFM code, or keyboard accelerator Ctrl-\ (Control-Backslash).
2. Switch on the USFM checker. See menu Check / USFM. This opens a new window.
3. Paste some good text in the editor.
4. Press button "Discover markup", and see how it goes.
If the markup is not discovered properly, you will need to enter the USFM codes by hand. The essential ones are \c, \p, \s and \v.
Keep doing this for each chapter of text you'd like to import.
At the end of all, when all text has been imported into a book, chapter 0 needs to be set as well, else without that Bibledit won't work well with the imported text. Setting chapter 0 is usually done by simply applying the "c" marker in the editor, choosing chapter 0, and pressing OK.
Note. At any stage in the text import process, the user can filter the text. Select the filter to apply, then click button "Filter text". Filters can be created through menu Preferences / Filters.
Note. There is an option "Verses are at line start". if this one is ticked, when discovering the markup, the engine only considers verses that are at the start of the line.
Note. In some raw text footnotes or cross references are included in the text. See the following example, where one would like to import the following raw text:
"5 Don't forget what happened to those people that the Lord rescued from Egypt. Some of them did not have faith, and he later destroyed them. Ex 12.51; Nu 14.29,30. 6 You also know about the angels who didn't do their work and left their proper places. God chained them with everlasting chains and is now keeping them in dark pits until the great day of judgment."
There is a cross reference in 5: Ex 12.51; Nu 14.29,30.
To import this raw text properly, you need to tick the option that the verse numbers are at the start of the line. Then recognize the text by clicking on the button. It will now have recognized only verse 5. You need to put a new line before verse 6, and manually add the \v before it. The switch to formatted view, and cut the cross reference to the clipboard. Then insert a new cross reference, and paste that text into the dialog.
The same technique can be used for footnotes or endnotes.
This gives information about how to get a list of references into Bibledit, into the References Window.
This imports a stylesheet.
This imports project notes.
This allows you to import keyterms.