dcmdump [options] dcmfile-in...
If dcmdump reads a raw data set (DICOM data without a file format meta- header) it will attempt to guess the transfer syntax by examining the first few bytes of the file. It is not always possible to correctly guess the transfer syntax and it is better to convert a data set to a file format whenever possible (using the dcmconv utility). It is also possible to use the -f and -t[ieb] options to force dcmdump to read a dataset with a particular transfer syntax.
dcmfile-in DICOM input filename to be dumped
-h --help
print this help text and exit
--version
print version information and exit
-d --debug
debug mode, print debug information
input file format:
+f --read-file
read file format or data set (default)
-f --read-dataset
read data set without file meta information
input transfer syntax (only with --read-dataset):
-t= --read-xfer-auto
use TS recognition (default)
-te --read-xfer-little
read with explicit VR little endian TS
-tb --read-xfer-big
read with explicit VR big endian TS
-ti --read-xfer-implicit
read with implicit VR little endian TS
printing:
+M --load-all
load very long tag values (default)
-M --load-short
do not load very long values (e.g. pixel data)
+L --print-all
print long tag values completely
-L --print-short
print long tag values shortened (default)
+F --print-filename
print header with filename for each input file
error handling:
-E --stop-on-error
do not print if file is damaged (default)
+E --ignore-errors
attempt to print even if file is damaged
searching:
+P --search [t]ag: "xxxx,xxxx" or a data dictionary name
print the value of tag t this option can be specified
multiple times (default: the complete file is printed)
+s --search-all
print all instances of searched tags (default)
-s --search-first
only print first instance of searched tags
+p --prepend
prepend sequence hierarchy to printed tag,
denoted by: (xxxx,xxxx).(xxxx,xxxx).*
(only with --search-all or --search-first)
-p --no-prepend
do not prepend hierarchy to tag (default)
writing:
+W --write-pixel [d]irectory : string
write pixel data to a .raw file stored in d
(little endian, filename created automatically)
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).
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.