NAME

Religion::Bible::Reference - canonicalize shorthand bible references

VERSION

version 0.013

SYNOPSIS

use Religion::Bible::Reference;

my $quote = bibref("jn8:32");

print "($quote)";   # (John 8:32)
print $quote->book; # John

DESCRIPTION

This module converts simple text descriptions of bible references and ranges into objects that stringify into a canonical form.

WARNING! This module is mostly an idea and not so much a guaranteed interface or well-tested implementation. If you're interested in either of those existing, you should let me know.

FUNCTIONS

bibref($ref_string)

This function is exported by default, and constructs a new Religion::Bible::Reference

Reference strings must be a book followed by a list of chapters, verses, or ranges. The following are all valid ranges:

Pro 23:12, 23:15-17
st.jn8:32
Song of Solomon 8:7-8
2 John 1

METHODS

Religion::Bible::Reference->new($ref_string)

This method acts just like the exported bibref function.

$self->stringify

This method returns a string representing the reference, using the canonical book name.

$self->stringify_short

This method returns a string representing the reference, using the short book name.

In other words, John 8:32 would be Jn 8:32. All short forms should safely round-trip back via parsing.

$class->canonicalize_book($book_abbrev)

If possible, this method returns the canonical name of the book whose abbreviation was passed.

validate_verse

$class->validate_verse($book, $chapter, $verse)

This method returns true if the given book, chapter, and verse exists; otherwise it returns false.

iterator

my $iterator = $bibref->iterator;

while (my $verse = $iterator->next) {
  my $text = retrieve($verse);
  print "$text\n";
}

AUTHOR

Ricardo Signes, <rjbs@cpan.org>

TODO

• allow Text::Abbrev instead of registered abbrevs

• clean up regex/lists

• make public the interface to load modules of books and abbreviations

• make an interface to unload modules

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2005-2006 Ricardo Signes, All Rights Reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.