Please Note: The Ballad Index software is not your average Macintosh application. Frankly, it looks a lot like the sort of software the Macintosh was supposed to abolish: Keystroke-driven, with no graphics or sound or anything pretty like that. I don't like it any better than you do, but it's hard to make pretty software while still producing something that can also run on DOS/Windows and UNIX machines.
There is also the problem of the many changes made in the Macintosh platform over the years. As of now, there are four classes of Macintosh software: 68000 software (OS 8.0 or lower), Classic PowerPC software (OS 7.x to OS 9.x), OS X PowerPC software, and OS X Intel software. There is no Macintosh software that runs on all of these platforms; it's flatly not possible.
We've done our best. We have software for the 68000 and Classic PowerPC, though it is no longer updated, and we are now releasing software for OS X on PowerPC; this version also runs on Intel Macs with a slight speed penalty. (A pure Intel version will be available one of these days.)
For these reasons, it is strongly suggested that you read the instructions in the ReadMe file before you try the program.
Be sure to read the What's New file for information on changes to the current version.
To use the Macintosh Ballad Index, you will need to download two sets of files: The software and the data file. (The two are kept separate so they can be updated separately.) Select the software that is appropriate for your computer, then download the Macintosh version of the data file.
Note: Both software and data file are compressed, though we now use ZIP and gzip format for compression rather than StuffIt. You should be able to decompress the files with StuffIt Expander (which is free).
New Version:
* The Ballad Index Software for
OS X Macintosh (version 2.0) (Includes instructions, software,
keywords file, help. Does not include the data file)
To use this version, download these data files:
* Click here to download the Ballad Index
text file and here to download the Supplemental Tradition.
Versions for Classic Macintosh:
* The Ballad Index Software for
Classic PowerPC Macintosh (version 1.0) (Includes instructions, software,
keywords file, help. Does not include the data file)
* The Ballad Index Software for
68K Macintosh (version 1.0) (Includes instructions, software,
keywords file, help. Does not include the data file)
To use these versions, download this data file:
* Click here to download the The Ballad Index in Macintosh ASCII. (You cannot use the Supplemental
Tradition with the Ballad Index version for classic Macintosh.)
If you already have the Ballad Index software, use the following links to dowload the latest version of the data files:
The Ballad Index is copyright © 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.