dcmdata: a data encoding/decoding library and utility apps

This module contains classes to manage DICOM data structures and files. It also provides support for DICOMDIR files as required for DICOM storage media.

The main interface classes are:

• DcmFileFormat
• DcmDataset
• DcmItem
• DcmElement

Here are some further classes that are of interest:

• DcmTag
• DcmTagKey
• DicomDirInterface

Tools

This module contains the following command line tools:

• cda2dcm: Encapsulate CDA file into DICOM file format
• dcm2json: Convert DICOM file and data set to JSON
• dcm2pdf: Extract PDF file from DICOM encapsulated PDF
• dcm2xml: Convert DICOM file and data set to XML
• dcmconv: Convert DICOM file encoding
• dcmcrle: Encode DICOM file to RLE transfer syntax
• dcmdrle: Decode RLE-compressed DICOM file
• dcmdump: Dump DICOM file and data set
• dcmftest: Test if file uses DICOM part 10 format
• dcmgpdir: Create a general purpose DICOMDIR
• dcmodify: Modify DICOM files
• dump2dcm: Convert ASCII dump to DICOM file
• img2dcm: Convert standard image formats into DICOM format
• pdf2dcm: Encapsulate PDF file into DICOM file format
• stl2dcm: Encapsulate STL file into DICOM file format
• xml2dcm: Convert XML document to DICOM file or data set

Files

The following file provides further documentation:

• datadict.txt file

Examples

The following example shows how to load a DICOM file and output the patient's name:

DcmFileFormat fileformat;
OFCondition status = fileformat.loadFile("test.dcm");
if (status.good())
{
  OFString patientName;
  if (fileformat.getDataset()->findAndGetOFString(DCM_PatientName, patientName).good())
  {
    cout << "Patient's Name: " << patientName << endl;
  } else
    cerr << "Error: cannot access Patient's Name!" << endl;
} else
  cerr << "Error: cannot read DICOM file (" << status.text() << ")" << endl;

The following example shows how to create a DICOM dataset and save it to a file:

char uid[100];
DcmFileFormat fileformat;
DcmDataset *dataset = fileformat.getDataset();
dataset->putAndInsertString(DCM_SOPClassUID, UID_SecondaryCaptureImageStorage);
dataset->putAndInsertString(DCM_SOPInstanceUID, dcmGenerateUniqueIdentifier(uid, SITE_INSTANCE_UID_ROOT));
dataset->putAndInsertString(DCM_PatientName, "Doe^John");
/* ... */
dataset->putAndInsertUint8Array(DCM_PixelData, pixelData, pixelLength);
OFCondition status = fileformat.saveFile("test.dcm", EXS_LittleEndianExplicit);
if (status.bad())
  cerr << "Error: cannot write DICOM file (" << status.text() << ")" << endl;

The following example shows how to create a general purpose DICOMDIR from multiple files:

DicomDirInterface dicomdir;
OFCondition status = dicomdir.createNewDicomDir();
if (status.good())
{
  while ( /* there are files */ )
    dicomdir.addDicomFile( /* current filename */ );
  status = dicomdir.writeDicomDir();
  if (status.bad())
    cerr << "Error: cannot write DICOMDIR (" << status.text() << ")" << endl;
} else
  cerr << "Error: cannot create DICOMDIR (" << status.text() << ")" << endl;