NAME
xml2dcm - Convert XML document to DICOM file or data set
SYNOPSIS
xml2dcm [options] xmlfile-in dcmfile-out
DESCRIPTION
The xml2dcm utility converts the contents of an XML (Extensible Markup
Language) document to DICOM file or data set. The XML document is
expected to validate against the DTD (Document Type Definition) which
is described in file dcm2xml.dtd. An appropriate XML file can be
created using the dcm2xml tool (option +Wb recommended to include
binary data).
PARAMETERS
xmlfile-in XML input filename to be converted (stdin: "-")
dcmfile-out DICOM output filename
OPTIONS
general options
-h --help
print this help text and exit
--version
print version information and exit
-v --verbose
verbose mode, print processing details
-d --debug
debug mode, print debug information
input options
input file format:
+f --read-meta-info
read meta information if present (default)
-f --ignore-meta-info
ignore file meta information
processing options
validation:
+Vd --validate-document
validate XML document against DTD
+Vn --check-namespace
check XML namespace in document root
output options
output file format:
+F --write-file
write file format (default)
-F --write-dataset
write data set without file meta information
output transfer syntax:
+t= --write-xfer-same
write with same TS as input (default)
+te --write-xfer-little
write with explicit VR little endian TS
+tb --write-xfer-big
write with explicit VR big endian TS
+ti --write-xfer-implicit
write with implicit VR little endian TS
post-1993 value representations:
+u --enable-new-vr
enable support for new VRs (UN/UT) (default)
-u --disable-new-vr
disable support for new VRs, convert to OB
group length encoding:
+g= --group-length-recalc
recalculate group lengths if present (default)
+g --group-length-create
always write with group length elements
-g --group-length-remove
always write without group length elements
length encoding in sequences and items:
+e --length-explicit
write with explicit lengths (default)
-e --length-undefined
write with undefined lengths
data set trailing padding (not with --write-dataset):
-p= --padding-retain
do not change padding (default if not --write-dataset)
-p --padding-off
no padding (implicit if --write-dataset)
+p --padding-create [f]ile-pad [i]tem-pad: integer
align file on multiple of f bytes and items on
multiple of i bytes
NOTES
The basic structure of the XML input expected looks like the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE file-format SYSTEM "dcm2xml.dtd">
<file-format xmlns="http://dicom.offis.de/dcmtk">
<meta-header xfer="1.2.840.10008.1.2.1" name="LittleEndianExplicit">
<element tag="0002,0000" vr="UL" vm="1" len="4"
name="MetaElementGroupLength">
166
</element>
...
<element tag="0002,0013" vr="SH" vm="1" len="16"
name="ImplementationVersionName">
OFFIS_DCMTK_353
</element>
</meta-header>
<data-set xfer="1.2.840.10008.1.2" name="LittleEndianImplicit">
<element tag="0008,0005" vr="CS" vm="1" len="10"
name="SpecificCharacterSet">
ISO_IR 100
</element>
...
<sequence tag="0028,3010" vr="SQ" card="2" name="VOILUTSequence">
<item card="3">
<element tag="0028,3002" vr="xs" vm="3" len="6"
name="LUTDescriptor">
256\0\8
</element>
...
</item>
...
</sequence>
...
<element tag="7fe0,0010" vr="OW" vm="1" len="262144"
name="PixelData" loaded="no" binary="hidden">
</element>
</data-set>
</file-format>
The ’file-format’ and ’meta-header’ tags maybe absent for DICOM data
sets.
Character Encoding
The DICOM character encoding is determined automatically from the
element with tag ’0008,0005’ (Specific Character Set) - if present. The
following character sets are currently supported (requires libxml2 to
include iconv support):
ASCII "ISO_IR 6" (UTF-8)
UTF-8 "ISO_IR 192" (UTF-8)
ISO Latin 1 "ISO_IR 100" (ISO-8859-1)
ISO Latin 2 "ISO_IR 101" (ISO-8859-2)
ISO Latin 3 "ISO_IR 109" (ISO-8859-3)
ISO Latin 4 "ISO_IR 110" (ISO-8859-4)
ISO Latin 5 "ISO_IR 148" (ISO-8859-9)
Cyrillic "ISO_IR 144" (ISO-8859-5)
Arabic "ISO_IR 127" (ISO-8859-6)
Greek "ISO_IR 126" (ISO-8859-7)
Hebrew "ISO_IR 138" (ISO-8859-8)
Multiple character sets are not supported (only the first value of the
’Specific Character Set’ is used for the character encoding in case of
value multiplicity).
See dcm2xml documentation for more details on the XML structure.
COMMAND LINE
All command line tools use the following notation for parameters:
square brackets enclose optional values (0-1), three trailing dots
indicate that multiple values are allowed (1-n), a combination of both
means 0 to n values.
Command line options are distinguished from parameters by a leading ’+’
or ’-’ sign, respectively. Usually, order and position of command line
options are arbitrary (i.e. they can appear anywhere). However, if
options are mutually exclusive the rightmost appearance is used. This
behaviour conforms to the standard evaluation rules of common Unix
shells.
In addition, one or more command files can be specified using an ’@’
sign as a prefix to the filename (e.g. @command.txt). Such a command
argument is replaced by the content of the corresponding text file
(multiple whitespaces are treated as a single separator) prior to any
further evaluation. Please note that a command file cannot contain
another command file. This simple but effective approach allows to
summarize common combinations of options/parameters and avoids longish
and confusing command lines (an example is provided in file
share/data/dumppat.txt).
ENVIRONMENT
The xml2dcm utility will attempt to load DICOM data dictionaries
specified in the DCMDICTPATH environment variable. By default, i.e. if
the DCMDICTPATH environment variable is not set, the file
<PREFIX>/lib/dicom.dic will be loaded unless the dictionary is built
into the application (default for Windows).
The default behaviour should be preferred and the DCMDICTPATH
environment variable only used when alternative data dictionaries are
required. The DCMDICTPATH environment variable has the same format as
the Unix shell PATH variable in that a colon (’:’) separates entries.
The data dictionary code will attempt to load each file specified in
the DCMDICTPATH environment variable. It is an error if no data
dictionary can be loaded.
FILES
lib/dcm2xml.dtd - Document Type Definition (DTD) file
SEE ALSO
dcm2xml(1)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2003-2004 by Kuratorium OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121
Oldenburg, Germany.