Re: Gramcord & Accordance

M. Palmer (mtp9675@gibbs.oit.unc.edu)
Sun, 1 Dec 1996 00:13:44 -0500

On 30 Nov 1996, KULIKOVSKY, Andrew wrote:

> Just what exactly is the difference between Gramcord and
> Accordance? I assume they use the same databases, and they
> both use a window based user interface so the difference
> must be in the search engine....but why? And just how
> much better is Accordance than Gramcord? What does it do
> that Gramcord doesn't? I am considering buying the Gramcord
> teacher's CD . . . [SNIP]

Yes, the difference is in the search engine. The search engine for
AcCordance was designed from the ground up as a Mac program. It is
graphics-based. You can 'draw' the construction you want to find by
dragging, say, a verb box (representing any verb matching the criteria
you specify in the window which pops up as soon as you put the verb where
you want it) to a particular place in the construction, then dragging,
say a noun (with the specifications you want) to another position
relative to that verb. You can then draw lines connecting the two in
whatever way you want. You might, for example, put an arch between them
specifying that only the forms you approve may appear between the verb
and the noun.

This graphics interface is so easy to use that I have never had to read a
single page of the manual, and I do some rather complex searches. (I do
admit that I once read some parts of the manual just to see if there was
anything I was missing. :-) There wasn't.)

Of course, if you like the feel of programing on the fly, you can still
use the method familiar to users of the original DOS version. You can
actually learn the command language and type it into a window designed
for that reason. I actually did that for a while when I first got the
program just because I was so used to the old DOS version that it came
naturally. Now I don't see why anyone would bother.

While on this topic. . . The real factor determining whether you would
like the Windows or Mac version better may have more to do with
personality than anything else. AcCordance seems very intuitive to me,
but it may not to some other users.

While I don't use the Windows version enough to know if the latest revision
allows it to do all that AcCordance can do, there were some
differences as of a couple of years ago. I sat down at the GRAMCORD
display at the SBL meeting (I think it was two years ago) to see the new
Windows version and it only took a few minutes to get to the place where
I asked the person demonstrating the program how to do something which I
did regularly on my Mac only to hear, "you can't. We hope to add that
later." Maybe they did.

In any event. Whether you go with the Mac or Windows, it's the best tool
on the market for working with the Greek New Testament.

M. Palmer