Books & Chapters
Navigate the Bible structure — books with naming conventions, chapters with rich component trees.
Books
Each Bible translation contains a complete list of books in canonical order. Every book includes:
| Property | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| USFM Code | Standard three-letter book identifier used across all translations | GEN, PSA, JHN, REV |
| Short Name | Abbreviated book name in the translation's language | Gen, Ps, John, Rev |
| Long Name | Full book name in the translation's language | Genesis, Psalms, The Gospel of John, Revelation |
| Abbreviation | Compact reference abbreviation | Ge, Ps, Jn, Re |
GEN always means Genesis whether the translation is in English, French, or Swahili. This makes it possible to link references across translations. Chapters
Each book contains its chapters in order. A chapter holds the actual Scripture text as a structured component tree — not plain text. This tree preserves all the formatting and structure of the original translation.
The Component Tree
Rather than storing Bible text as a flat string, Bosca stores each chapter as a tree of components. This preserves the rich structure of Scripture:
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Text | Actual Scripture text content with associated styling |
| VerseStart | Marks where a verse begins, with its verse number |
| VerseEnd | Marks where a verse ends |
| Container | Groups components together — paragraphs, poetry stanzas, list items, sections |
| Break | Line breaks and section separators |
This structure means that a reading application can render the exact same formatting as the original translation — poetry with proper indentation, paragraph breaks in the right places, and section headings where the translators placed them.
Verse References
Each chapter provides a list of all its verse references. Each reference includes both a human-readable form (e.g., "Genesis 1:1") and a USFM form (e.g., "GEN.1.1"). This makes it easy to link to specific verses, build verse pickers, and integrate with the reference parsing system.
Navigating the Structure
The typical navigation flow is:
- List available translations
- Select a translation to see its books
- Select a book to see its chapters
- Select a chapter to read the full component tree with verse-level detail
Alternatively, use a human-readable reference like "John 3:16" to jump directly to a specific passage.