How to get it
How to use it
Examples
What mdc2html is
mdc2html is a quick-and-easy solution to visualizing Manuel de Codage (MdeC) text for those without access to WinGlyph or MacScribe. (Manuel de Codage is a standard way of representing a hieroglyphic text in ASCII.)mdc2html converts a text in MdeC format to an HTML page that can be viewed with your favourite browser. The hieroglyphs are rendered using a library of images - one for each hieroglyph.
Thus the ASCII manuel de codage text:
$r r:p-a:t F4:a $b E17 a&D-mr:a N36:N23 !
is converted to:
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What mdc2html is not
- mdc2html is not a hieroglyph editor.
- mdc2html does not (yet) support "professional quality" output like WinGlyph or MacScribe. However the new version (version 2) supports many more features of MdeC than the original one.
- You cannot "write your name in hieroglyphs" using mdc2html
- mdc2html is primarily useful for viewing hieroglyph texts, not for printing them.
The origins of mdc2html
Egyptology has been a lifelong hobby for me and a few years ago I went on a course to learn hieroglyphs. Naturally I wanted to be able to write and view hieroglyph documents on my computer. Being a Unix (Linux) user I installed Serge Rosmorduc's sesh program for typesetting hieroglyphs, which can take MdeC text as its input.Later I wrote mdc2html when I wanted to create some web pages that incorporated hieroglyphic text. It was partly inspired by Jonathon Jacky's z2html program, which I use in my professional research, and which uses similar ideas in a completely different context. (Visualizing logical notation in HTML.)
Version 2 of mdc2html owes a lot to Jon Hirst, who polished the rough edges of the early version while typesetting the Tale of Sinuhe. In particular he improved the GIF libarary, and added most of the compound GIFs.
mdc2html was written for my own personal use but if you find it useful, you can use it as you see fit. Any comments, suggestions or other feedback is always welcome.