Tech Forum

Thanks for the answers guys. I have seen programs (like tequilacat) that allow me to convert ebooks into .jar files which can be loaded onto my phone. It wont have the functionality of a Scriptures App type program, but I guess it will have to do until someone with the right skills gets ambitious enough to put something like that together, or until I get a device that will support something other than JAVA.

mkdnprtt wrote:Thanks for the answers guys. I have seen programs (like tequilacat) that allow me to convert ebooks into .jar files which can be loaded onto my phone. It wont have the functionality of a Scriptures App type program, but I guess it will have to do until someone with the right skills gets ambitious enough to put something like that together, or until I get a device that will support something other than JAVA.

A .jar file is simply a Zip archive, per the Linux "file" command: "Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract"

So, is your need solved, at least as much as can be until someone writes a scripture browser application in Java?

If not, what kind of files do you need in a .jar file for your phone? What file formats?

rmrichesjr wrote:A .jar file is simply a Zip archive, per the Linux "file" command: "Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract"

So, is your need solved, at least as much as can be until someone writes a scripture browser application in Java?

If not, what kind of files do you need in a .jar file for your phone? What file formats?

Yes, I guess my need is solved as much as it can be regarding a scripture app. I was moving now to plan B which is converting using Tequilacat BookReader. The Tequilacat user manual (found here) says I can convert a .txt file format (as well as a few other file types) to a .jar which will be read using their book reader. Do you know if the scriptures are available to the public in a .txt format?

mkdnprtt wrote:Do you know if the scriptures are available to the public in a .txt format?

You may want to see this related post, discussing how much of the scripture content is under copyright and not released under public domain: http://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.ph ... #post24353

You will find the Bible and an old version of the Book of Mormon are the only texts that can legally be distributed under the laws of public domain. Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and all footnotes and cross references have never been released under public domain.

mkdnprtt wrote:Yes, I guess my need is solved as much as it can be regarding a scripture app. I was moving now to plan B which is converting using Tequilacat BookReader. The Tequilacat user manual (found here) says I can convert a .txt file format (as well as a few other file types) to a .jar which will be read using their book reader. Do you know if the scriptures are available to the public in a .txt format?

The only feasible legal way I know of would be to write a program that would let each user download the text from the Gospel Library area at lds.org and convert it to .txt. That's what I was referring to here:

rmrichesjr wrote: ...
First, there will need to be a way to capture the text of the scriptures. Each user would need to download the data, transform it, and load it into the phone. Distributing the text with the application would violate Church copyright unless permission were obtained, and getting that permission would not be feasible a small-scale project. So, some program would have to be written to do the download and transform.
...

This program would be short and easy, but it would need to be written. I think I would start with html2text and a Perl script.

rmrichesjr wrote:The only feasible legal way I know of would be to write a program that would let each user download the text from the Gospel Library area at lds.org and convert it to .txt. That's what I was referring to here:

...

This program would be short and easy, but it would need to be written. I think I would start with html2text and a Perl script.

I have pulled copies of the scripture web pages down by hand to read off-line (save page under a different name), but I always feel a bit concerned about it. The reason I feel concerned is that I don't quite understand why the Church doesn't just provide PDF or text files of the scriptures.

Is there somewhere I could find policy on this sort of thing? PDF would solve a lot of problems relative to scriptures formatted for portable devices.

It wouldn't allow linking between books, but there's still the low-tech solution of the eyeball link -- the cross references at the bottom of the page in the physical book. Or, if the linking problem is an issue, HTML is usually readable and linkable from the local hard drive.

reiisi wrote:
Is there somewhere I could find policy on this sort of thing? PDF would solve a lot of problems relative to scriptures formatted for portable devices.

Scriptures in PDF are available.

reiisi wrote:I have pulled copies of the scripture web pages down by hand to read off-line (save page under a different name), but I always feel a bit concerned about it.
...
Is there somewhere I could find policy on this sort of thing?

As far as the policy for downloading is concerned, in the Rights and Use Information for lds.org (a link is in the footer of every page of lds.org), it says:

You may view, download, and print material from this site only for your personal, noncommercial use unless otherwise indicated.

So you're fine downloading HTML or PDF from lds.org, as long is it is for your personal use.

reiisi wrote:The reason I feel concerned is that I don't quite understand why the Church doesn't just provide PDF or text files of the scriptures.
...
PDF would solve a lot of problems relative to scriptures formatted for portable devices.

You can indeed find the scriptures in PDF format in the Gospel Library section of lds.org under Church Publications--PDF Format (the Holy Bible and Triple Combination are the links in the Scriptures section, which is the first section on the page).

mkdnprtt wrote:Thanks for the answers guys. I have seen programs (like tequilacat) that allow me to convert ebooks into .jar files which can be loaded onto my phone. It wont have the functionality of a Scriptures App type program, but I guess it will have to do until someone with the right skills gets ambitious enough to put something like that together, or until I get a device that will support something other than JAVA.

Can you browse the web? You might want to try http://www.scripturebrowser.com.

Jason

I am considering buying an LG phone that has the same problem. I want to put the scriptures on my phone but this can only be accomplished via a java application. What was the final conclusion with this thread. It seems to me that for now the project is dead.