Script to sort list of Bible Verses

[Yousef Sobhy]

Hello,

Is anyone aware of a script that will make Bible Verses like this pic in Indesign?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Do you have a list to sort - or the list needs to be created first? 

If it's foundable - then not a problem. 

[brian_p_dts]

Searching these forums yields some potential solutions, ie https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/script-to-sort-list-of-bible-references-in-bible...

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It's just an index. Seems there would be scripts or plug-ins tailored to this specific task.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Yousef Sobhy

Can you share a sample INDD file - with a list you want to sort?

[Willi Adelberger]

I make a text anchor with the full bible verse. If only the chapter and verse stand alone it will be impossible. But sorting I do manually. I have the problem, that each translation has a different order. Lutheran translationions have a different than Reformed, and Messianic have another order again. I setup a lot of theological evangelical literature for colleges in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Willi Adelberger

It would be just a case of assigning a number to each keyword - so they won't have to be sorted alphabetically - and then sort.

[AlanGilbertson]

This is by far the best tool for creating the kind of index(es) you show in the image. It was the only tool that worked for a difficult multi-volume project I had some years ago, and I've not come across a better one since then.

http://virginiasystems.com/products_d.html

[Yousef Sobhy]

Hi @AlanGilbertson 

I am trying to use this tool to make a Bible verse index, but I could not handle this tool. Can you help me with pictures to make this index?

[Marc Autret]

Hi @Yousef Sobhy 

Not sure this is exactly the ordering you're looking for, but SmartSort (free InDesign script) could help you get closer to the desired result, assumed you have a dedicated ¶-style for the head titles. Then

1. Select your Level1 style + “Sub-Sort Only”.

2. Turn on the Sort Numbers option.

Smart Sort Test

→ https://indiscripts.com/category/projects/SmartSort

Best,

Marc

[Yousef Sobhy]

Hi @Marc Autret,

Thanks for this great information, but I need first make this (Gensis 1:1..........230) in all Book Automatically.

I want Script to make all verses like the pic, and then sort the verses.

Thank you

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Yousef Sobhy

Is there a way to find all "instances"?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Maybe I'm confused, but this all seems to be a very straightforward application of an index. A topic list could be used to create all or most of the entries, by book name alone as a start, and once all the appearances of the cites are tagged, an Index sorted and created as needed. Indexing from there would be just a matter of working through the document.

My only additional thought is that this is such a common and "canned" indexing need that surely someone must have written a plug-in  for it . (Only because I think it might be beyond the abilities of scripting alone.)

[Marc Autret]

Hi @Yousef Sobhy 

Ah, sorry, I thought it was just a sorting issue…

Regarding automatic index creation based on Bible references, @AlanGilbertson mentioned above a tool which he describes as “the only tool that worked for (such) a difficult multi-volume project”. Maybe he's right and you should take a look.

I would also mention IndexMatic3 (my own solution). In my experience (and especially that of the users I've talked to), it can extract these types of references from a book and produce the index with the desired formatting. It's basically a matter of sending the right queries (regular expressions) and creating the corresponding topics and entries. Note, however, that iX³ creates an independent index in InDesign (or txt, or xml, or idms), so it doesn't use the built-in Index feature.

May I suggest that you test the TRY version to see if it meets your needs?

Best,

Marc

[Peter Kahrel]

> Thanks for this great information, but I need first make this (Gensis 1:1..........230) in all Book Automatically.

> I want Script to make all verses like the pic, and then sort the verses.

You mean the index entries haven't been marked up yet in the text? And you want a script that finds all bible books and chapters in the text and marks them up? If that's the case you'll need to show how the chapters and verses appear in the text. Sorting them is not a problem, InDesign will do that for you.

[Yousef Sobhy]

This is exactly what I need.

[Peter Kahrel]

The first thing is to provide samples of the formats of. chapters and verses. That  can be quite a challenge because you can have a chapter name followed by several verses, chapter names can be abbreviated, etc. etc.

And you need to provide a list of chapter names in the order in which you want them sorted. Just a plain list, one chapter name per line.

[Yousef Sobhy]

Samples,

Genesis 43:25
Exodus 19:18
1 Samuel 5:12
Psalm 119:40
Luke 17:9
Acts 7:44–45
2 Corinthians 8:1

List of Books,

1 Genesis

2 Exodus

3 Leviticus

4 Numbers

5 Deuteronomy

6 Joshua

7 Judges

8 Ruth

9 1 Samuel

10 2 Samuel

11 1 Kings

12 2 Kings

13 1 Chronicles

14 2 Chronicles

15 Ezra

16 Nehemiah

17 Esther

18 Job

19 Psalms

20 Proverbs

21 Ecclesiastes

22 Song of Solomon

23 Isaiah

24 Jeremiah

25 Lamentations

26 Ezekiel

27 Daniel

28 Hosea

29 Joel

30 Amos

31 Obadiah

32 Jonah

33 Micah

34 Nahum

35 Habakkuk

36 Zephaniah

37 Haggai

38 Zechariah

39 Malachi

40 Matthew

41 Mark

42 Luke

43 John

44 Acts

45 Romans

46 1 Corinthians

47 2 Corinthians

48 Galatians

49 Ephesians

50 Philippians

51 Colossians

52 1 Thessalonians

53 2 Thessalonians

54 1 Timothy

55 2 Timothy

56 Titus

57 Philemon

58 Hebrews

59 James

60 1 Peter

61 2 Peter

62 1 John

63 2 John

64 3 John

65 Jude

66 Revelation

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Yousef Sobhy

Can you share a sample file?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Yousef Sobhy 

OK, I've created my own file - it is missing "ranges", but that's not a big deal for the workflow - and here is the end result:

1st Task loads found texts - GREP search.

2nd Task prepares for indexing - splits found texts into Topics and Entries.

3rd Task adds found texts to InDesign's indexing mechanism.

I also had to cheat a bit with "1 AAA" - by replacing space with "_". But it can be easily reversed.

ID-Tasker isn't a free solution. 

[Yousef Sobhy]

@Robert at ID-Tasker 

Sorry for the late reply.

This is very amazing solution but i still need a free solution.

Thanks.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Robert at ID-Tasker 

Sorry for the late reply.

This is very amazing solution but i still need a free solution.

By @Yousef Sobhy

I can give you access to the full version for free for some time. 

[Yousef Sobhy]

Thank you I am grateful for this.

[Marc Autret]

For those who would be interested in handling this task with IndexMatic³:

1. Install the script in InDesign (the TRY version is ok for testing).

2. Open your documents/book.

3. From the Scripts panel, double-click IndexMatic3Try (or …Pro) and select your ‘target’ documents.

4. In Preferences > Generic Hyphens, add the En and Em dashes. (This makes the hyphen metacharacter more greedy.)

5. In Finder, select the Query List mode and click the preserve order button 

6. Load the below query list (make sure you don't alter the syntax of the first line):

//~ format /^(\d+) (.+)/ :: /^2 +(\d+[-\d:]*)/Ish => ^2 > $1
01 Genesis
02 Exodus
03 Leviticus
04 Numbers
05 Deuteronomy
06 Joshua
07 Judges
08 Ruth
09 1 Samuel
10 2 Samuel
11 1 Kings
12 2 Kings
13 1 Chronicles
14 2 Chronicles
15 Ezra
16 Nehemiah
17 Esther
18 Job
19 Psalms
20 Proverbs
21 Ecclesiastes
22 Song of Solomon
23 Isaiah
24 Jeremiah
25 Lamentations
26 Ezekiel
27 Daniel
28 Hosea
29 Joel
30 Amos
31 Obadiah
32 Jonah
33 Micah
34 Nahum
35 Habakkuk
36 Zephaniah
37 Haggai
38 Zechariah
39 Malachi
40 Matthew
41 Mark
42 Luke
43 John
44 Acts
45 Romans
46 1 Corinthians
47 2 Corinthians
48 Galatians
49 Ephesians
50 Philippians
51 Colossians
52 1 Thessalonians
53 2 Thessalonians
54 1 Timothy
55 2 Timothy
56 Titus
57 Philemon
58 Hebrews
59 James
60 1 Peter
61 2 Peter
62 1 John
63 2 John
64 3 John
65 Jude
66 Revelation

7. Generate the index.

Best,

Marc 

[Yousef Sobhy]

@Marc Autret 

This script is great and very easy to make a Bible verse index, but unfortunately I need a free solution.

Thanks alot for your effort