Bible program - search functionality

Alright, so you guys know I'm making a Bible program. Thus far, it's at version 1.01, and it's at http://sourceforge.net/projects/aletheia.

Pretty soon I'm going to start adding some advanced search features. I think I have two options.

1. I can make it work similarly to Google where you use + to include words, - to exclude words, and quotations to search for exact phrases. I would also allow for wildcard searches.
   
   The only problem with this method is that I'm not sure how I would allow for the user to specify words to leave out. I would like to keep the search text in one single text box.
   
2. Do it all with a GUI, using radio buttons, with the following options:

1. Exact phrase
2. Require all words
3. Any words

In both, I might include regular expression searching.

Do you guys think this much search capability is even necessary for searching the Bible? Which option do you think would be best for users?

Do you guys think this much search capability is even necessary for searching the Bible?

That sounds funny to think about.....ctrl-F'ing the bible.

I like the GUI approach - its more user friendly.

By the way, how do you plan to enter the entire text of the Bible? Do you just download it somewhere or do you have it from another Bible program or what?

Well I was thinking I'd just do like Martin Luther did, except with a computer, and type it all in myself. It should only take a year or so...haha, no, I found a couple public domain text files that have the verses line by line.

After finding the text, I just converted it to my own indexed format. Loads real fast. Everythings extremely fast - a lot more so than I imagined it would be.

So what do you people think I should do about the advanced search functionality?

Originally Posted by ChadJohnson

Do you guys think this much search capability is even necessary for searching the Bible? Which option do you think would be best for users?

Absolutely!
The more search functions the better. I suggest a K-approximate search function to find misspellings.
The Bible names aren't the same in different countries, so misspellings will probably be common. For example Peter=Petrus, Luke=Lukas, Mary=Maria etc.

> Do you guys think this much search capability is even necessary for searching the Bible? Which option do you think would be best for users?

Like Sang said, 100% necessary. This is a long book and people are going to want to search for specific phrases in it. You should have as many search options as possible.

I think some bibles have a section in the back with categories like 'marriage', 'death', '<everyday thing>', and it has a list of book/chapter/verse that relates to the topic. Something you might want to look into.

Yea I was thinking, if I put some kind of index or a table of contents, I would probably only need to have one and it would work for every version of the Bible.

I can't find any kind of outline or table of contents for the Bible online. I think I'll get sued if I parse it off a site for any non-public domain versions, so I'm NOT doing that.

Does anyone know of anything like this that is public domain? Anyone know of any opensource Bible programs that have these things incorporated in them?

It has to be public domain and without copyright though...

By the way, can I possibly get sued if I parse text/commentaries/etc. off a web site that is public domain? I mean it's public domain and it's not like it's actually their property...