IDICON v1.2.6

INTERFILE <-> DICOM Conversion Program
February 1996

Back to the IDICON Home Page.

Index

• Introduction
• How to install
• IF2DCM
• DCM2IF
• DCMLIST
• DCMCOPY
• DCMEDIT
• DIBROW
• IDICON
• Authors

Introduction

IDICON is a software package which includes tools for automatic conversion between the medical image formats Interfile 3.3 and DICOM 3.0, and for manipulating files in DICOM 3.0 format. The standards are specified in:

• A. Todd-Pokropek, T. D. Cradduck and F. Deconinck: A File Format for the Exchange of Nuclear Medicine Image Data : A Specification of Interfile Version 3.3; Nuclear Medicine Communications, 1992
• DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine; NEMA Standards Publication PS3.1- 3.12, 1995)

Since Interfile is suitable for nuclear medicine data only, the converters (IF2DCM, DCM2IF, IDICON) are applicable only for nuclear medicine data.

How to install

IDICON is distributed in compiled (binary) form for several platforms.
Version 1.2.6 is available for PC (MSDOS), Commodore Amiga (on request), SUN (Solaris 2.3, SunOS 4.1.3), SGI (IRIX 5.3), IBM RS/6000 (AIX 3.2) via anonymous ftp.

How to install...

• v1.2.6 under UNIX (or MSDOS with unix-like utilities)
• v1.2.6 under MSDOS (without unix-like utilities)
• v1.0 under MSDOS

How to install v1.2.6 under UNIX (or MSDOS with unix-like utilities)

1. Get the archive suitable for your machine via anonymous ftp.
2. Uncompress and detar the archive. (Files with .Z suffix can be uncompressed by uncompress, files with .gz suffix can be uncompressed by gunzip.)
3. Move the programs to the final space. (The two definition files (*.def) are searched for in the location where the IDICON_LIB environment variable points to or in the current directory if IDICON_LIB is not set.

How to install v1.2.6 under MSDOS (without unix-like utilities)

1. Get the archive IDI126.EXE via anonymous ftp.
2. IDI126.EXE is a self-extracting archive. To uncompress the archive simply type IDI126 and press enter.
3. Move the programs to the final space. (The two definition files (*.def) are searched for in the location where the IDICON_LIB environment variable points to or in the current directory if IDICON_LIB is not set.

How to install v1.0 under MSDOS

1. Get the archive IDICON10.EXE via anonymous ftp.
2. Copy this archive into a suitable directory (C:\ might not be a bad choice)
3. IDICON10.EXE is a self-extracting archive. To uncompress the archive simply type IDICON10 and press enter. (All the files and directories will be created under the current directory.)

You can set the following parameters in the file IDICON\IDICON\IDICON.LGO:
device <drive>
datadir <dir>
colour <file>

where

<drive>

is the drive for storing the temporary files,

<dir>

is the default data directory of the studies,

<file>

is the name of the palette file (without extension .PAL) used by IDICON.EXE.

Their default values are:
device c
datadir ..\data
colour idicon

IF2DCM

IF2DCM converts an Interfile header into a DICOM object.

Usage:

if2dcm [-?|h] [-p] [-mo[n|<TS>]] [-do<TS>] [-s<file>] -i<file> -o<file> [-v] [-l<file>] [@<file>]

Switches:

-?|-h

prints short description of parameters

-p

forces not to copy the pixel data (default is copy)

-mo[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax of metaheader on output (-mon means no metaheader on output)

-do<TS>

transfer syntax of DICOM object on output

-s<file>

name of secondary (shadow) definition file ("dicom.def" format)

-i<file>

name of input file (Interfile format)

-o<file>

name of output file (DICOM format)

-v

prints messages to stderr (even if log file is given)

-l<file>

name of log file

@<file>

name of file containing command line arguments

Terms:

<file>

is a file name (with or without path)

<TS>

is one of the characters below to specify transfer syntax to use

i Implicit VR Little Endian
e Explicit VR Little Endian
b Explicit VR Big Endian

Default values are -moe -doi (implicit little endian object with explicit little endian metaheader)

DCM2IF

DCM2IF converts a DICOM object into an Interfile header.

Usage:

dcm2if [-?|h] [-p] [-mi[n|<TS>]] [-di<TS>] -i<file> -o<file>

Switches:

-?|-h

prints short description of parameters

-p

forces not to copy the pixel data (default is copy)

-mi[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax of metaheader on input
if -min is specified (no metaheader on input) then -di must be specified if not default

-di<TS>

transfer syntax for DICOM object on input (if no metaheader).
if -di is specified then -mi must not be specified except in the form -min (but it's no use anyway)

-i<file>

name of input file (DICOM format)

-o<file>

name of output file (Interfile format)

Terms:

<file>

is a file name (with or without path)

<TS>

is one of the characters below to specify transfer syntax to use

i Implicit VR Little Endian
e Explicit VR Little Endian
b Explicit VR Big Endian

Default values are -mie (explicit little endian metaheader)

DCMLIST

DMCLIST lists the contents of a DICOM object.

Usage:

dcmlist [-?|h] [-mi[n|<TS>]] [-di<TS>] [-s<file>] -i<file> [-f<flags>] [-v] [-l<file>] [@<file>]

Switches:

-?|-h

prints short description of parameters

-mi[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax of metaheader on input
if -min is specified (no metaheader on input) then -di must be specified if not default

-di<TS>

transfer syntax for DICOM object on input (if no metaheader).
if -di is specified then -mi must not be specified except in the form -min (but it's no use anyway)

-s<file>

name of secondary (shadow) definition file ("dicom.def" format)

-i<file>

name of input file (DICOM format)

-v

prints messages to stderr (even if log file is given)

-l<file>

name of log file

@<file>

name of file containing command line arguments

Terms:

<file>

is a file name (with or without path)

<TS>

is one of the characters below to specify transfer syntax to use

i Implicit VR Little Endian
e Explicit VR Little Endian
b Explicit VR Big Endian

Default values are -mie (explicit little endian metaheader)

<flags>

are options to switch off fields for listing

-gc do not print Group Code
-ec do not print Element Code
-vr do not print Value Representation
-vl do not print Value Length
-vf do not print Value Field
-de do not print Description

DCMCOPY

DCMCOPY copies a DICOM object into an other one meanwhile it modifies the copy according to the parameters.

Usage:

dcmcopy [-?|h] [-p] [-mi[n|<TS>]] [-di<TS>] [-mo[n|<TS>]] [-do<TS>] [-s<file>] -i<file> -o<file> [-v] [-l<file>] [@<file>]

Switches:

-?|-h

prints short description of parameters

-p

forces not to copy the pixel data (default is copy)

-mi[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax for metaheader on input
if -min is specified (no metaheader on input) then -di must be specified if not default

-di<TS>

transfer syntax for DICOM object on input (if no metaheader).
if -di is specified then -mi must not be specified except in the form -min (but it's no use anyway)

-mo[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax for metaheader on output (-mon means no metaheader on output)

-do<TS>

transfer syntax for DICOM object on output

-s<file>

name of secondary (shadow) definition file ("dicom.def" format)

-i<file>

name of input file (DICOM format)

-o<file>

name of output file (DICOM format)

-v

prints messages to stderr (even if log file is given)

-l<file>

name of log file

@<file>

name of file containing command line arguments

Terms:

<file>

is a file name (with or without path)

<TS>

is one of the characters below to specify transfer syntax to use

i Implicit VR Little Endian
e Explicit VR Little Endian
b Explicit VR Big Endian

Default values are -mie -moe -doi (implicit little endian object with explicit little endian metaheader)

DCMEDIT

DCMEDIT modifies the contents of a DICOM object. The actions are described in a text file, called profile.

Usage:

dcmedit [-s<file>] -p<file> -i<file> -o<file> [-v] [-l<file>] [@<file>]

Switches:

-s<file>

name of secondary (shadow) definition file ("dicom.def" format)

-p<file>

name of profile (ASCII text)

-i<file>

name of input file (DICOM format)

-o<file>

name of output file (DICOM format)

-v

prints messages to stderr (even if log file is given)

-l<file>

name of log file

@<file>

name of file containing command line arguments

Terms:

<file>

is a file name (with or without path)

Profile syntax:

The profile should contain text lines of the following form:
action group element value comment
There are four type of actions:
a (add),
e (empty, no value),
d (delete, no value),
s (set the pointer to the nth item of Elements).
• Space is the delimiter character.
• If the value or the comment consist of more then one word then put this between two " (double quote) signs.
• The rest of a line is treated as a comment after the first ; (semicolon) character which is not in a quoted string.
• Group and element should be given by exactly 4 hexadecimal digits.
• The value has to be a proper value (because there is no check against this).
• If the value is multivalue then a list should be given. A list contains values separated by \ (backslash) character.
• If the value representation is Attribute Tag then the value should be given by 8 hexadecimal digits (e.g. 00540010 means (0054,0010) tag).

Here is the contents of a sample profile:

d 0008 0030 "delete the study date"

a 0008 0030 150000 "add the study date"

a 0028 0009 00540020\00540030\00540060 "add a frame increment pointer"

;a 0010 0010 "Joe Doe" "add the patient name"

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DIBROW

BROWSER.EXE is a browser driven by the hierarchical structure of DICOM objects. It runs under MS-Windows and shows the DICOM definitions. It is able to browse the contents of real DICOM objects too.

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IDICON

IDICON is a menu-driven interface for converting, listing and copying Interfile headers and DICOM objects.

Usage:

idicon [-?|h] [-t|l|xXX] [-p] [-mi[n|<TS>]] [-di<TS>] [-mo[n|<TS>]] [-do<TS>] [-vi<file>] [-vo<file>] -i<file> -o<file>

Switches:

-?|-h

prints short description of parameters

-t

forces the program to run in text mode with menu

-l

lists the contents of the input file. When this option is set and the output file is omitted, the program only lists the contents of the input file and does no conversion.

-xXX

specifies input and output formats. Two characters follow the option. First character stands for input format and second for output format. Each of them can be either i (for Interfile) or d (for DICOM) (e.g. -xif for Interfile->DICOM conversion).
When running with parameters either -t or -xXX option must be specified (there is no default setting).

-p

forces the program not to copy the pixel data (default is copy)
When this option is set an empty pixel data element (DICOM) or empty image file (Interfile) is generated.

-i<file>

name of the input file

-o<file>

name of the output file

-vi<file>

Interfile definition file for input (default is inter.def)

-vo<file>

Interfile definition file for output (default is the same as for input)

-mi[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax for metaheader on input
if -min is specified (no metaheader on input) then -di must be specified if not default

-di<TS>

transfer syntax for DICOM object on input (if no metaheader).
if -di is specified then -mi must not be specified except in the form -min (but it's no use anyway)

-mo[n|<TS>]

transfer syntax for metaheader on output (-mon means no metaheader on output)

-do<TS>

transfer syntax for DICOM object on output

Terms:

<file>

is a file name (with or without path)

<TS>

is one of the characters below to specify transfer syntax to use

i Implicit VR Little Endian
e Explicit VR Little Endian
b Explicit VR Big Endian


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Authors

László Nyúl (nyul@inf.u-szeged.hu),
Antal Nagy (nagya@inf.u-szeged.hu),
Attila Kuba (kuba@inf.u-szeged.hu)
Department of Applied Informatics
József Attila University Szeged, Hungary

A. Todd-Pokropek (a.todd@ucl.ac.uk)
Department of Medical Physics
University College London

Post addresses:

Department of Applied Informatics
József Attila University
Árpád tér 2.
H-6720 Szeged
Hungary
fax: + 36 62 312 292

Department of Medical Physics
University College London
Gower St.
London WC1E 6BT
U.K.
fax: + 44 71 831 5092