TKSESH: A hieroglyphic database system

We introduce tksesh, a multiplatform editor, database and dictionary software. Tksesh is both intended to be a toolkit to build applications for the philologist and an example of such application. The core of tksesh is a hieroglyphic editor which understands ’Manuel de codage’ encodings. The edited texts can be saved in a database, and referenced by the dictionary system, via hyperlinks. The dictionary can handle complex definitions by multiple authors. Most of the text in the dictionary has precise meaning, not only for the reader, but also for the computer. This allows automated treatments and possibly complex searches. An important feature of the dictionary is that it can contain references to the text database, in a readable way, and that clicking on these pops up the referenced text. Of course, exhaustive searches in the database text are also an option. The Tksesh system is written in the Tcl/Tk language, which is freely available for both Windows, Mac, and Unix systems, allowing it to be very portable.