dcmodify [options] [dcmfile-in...]
In case multiple modifications have to be performed, dcmodify does the modifications in the same order as they appear on the command line. Please note that dcmodify does not check whether a given value matches its value representation (VR). Usually, an error message is printed but generally the user should take care of the right VR usage.
If dcmodify doesn't know the tag it should insert, then the tags VR is set to UN and an empty value. Please insert these tags into the dictionary to avoid this.
dcmodify is able to work with so-called tag paths to describe tags in sequences. The syntax is
{sequence[item-no].}*element
where 'sequence' is a sequence tag like (0008,1111) or a dictionary name for a tag. 'item-no' describes the item number to be accessed (counting from zero). 'element' defines the target tag to work on. You can either specify the tag directly as (0010,0010) or through the dictionary name PatientsName. The '*' denotes that you can repeat sequence statements to access deeper levels in DICOM files (see EXAMPLES section).
There are some issues concerning modifications of private tags (see PRIVATE TAGS section) and for changing UIDs (CHANGING UIDs section).
dcmfile-in DICOM input filename(s) to be modified
-h --help
print this help text and exit
--version
print version information and exit
-d --debug
debug mode, print debug information
-v --verbose
verbose mode, print verbose output
-ie --ignore-errors
continue with file, if modify error occurs
input file format:
+f --read-file
read file format or data set (default)
+fo --read-file-only
read file format only
-f --read-dataset
read data set without file meta information
input transfer syntax:
-t= --read-xfer-auto
use TS recognition (default)
-td --read-xfer-detect
ignore TS specified in the file meta header
-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
parsing of odd-length attributes:
+ao --accept-odd-length
accept odd length attributes (default)
+ae --assume-even-length
assume real length is one byte larger
automatic data correction:
+dc --enable-correction
enable automatic data correction (default)
-dc --disable-correction
disable automatic data correction
bitstream format of deflated input:
+bd --bitstream-deflated
expect deflated bitstream (default)
+bz --bitstream-zlib
expect deflated zlib bitstream
insert mode options:
-i --insert-tag "tag-path=value"
insert (or overwrite) tag at position t
with value v
modify mode options:
-m --modify-tag "[t]ag-path=[v]alue"
modify tag at position t to value v
-ma --modify-all-tags "[t]ag=[v]value"
modify ALL matching tags t in file to value v
erase mode options:
-e --erase-tag "[t]ag-path"
erase tag at position t
-ea --erase-all-tags "[t]ag"
erase ALL matching tags t in file
uid options:
-gst --gen-stud-uid
generate new Study Instance UID
-gse --gen-ser-uid
generate new Series Instance UID
-gin --gen-inst-uid
generate new SOP Instance UID
-nmu --no-meta-uid
don't update metaheader UIDs
UIDs in the metaheader won't be changed,
if related UIDs in dataset are modified
via options -m, -i or -ma
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:
+le --length-explicit
write with explicit lengths (default)
-le --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
If you've got your private tag in the dictionary, dcmodify acts as follows: When it finds a reservation in the tags enclosing dataset, whose private creator matches, insertion is done with the VR found in dictionary and the value, you entered at commandline. But if the private creator doesn't match the one found in dictionary, dcmodify inserts the tag with VR Unknown (UN) and an empty value.
If you wish to change a private tags value and VR, because you just added this tag to your dictionary e.g., you can delete it with dcmodify and re-insert it. Then dcmodify uses your dicitionary entry to determine the right VR (also see subsection insertions).
For deletion of private non-reservation tags there are no special issues.
If you generate new UID's with '-gst', '-gse' or '-gin', this will only affect the UID you choosed to generate. So if you use '-gst' to generate a new 'Study Instance UID', then 'Series Instance UID' and 'SOP Instance UID' will not be affected! This gives you the possibility to generate each value seperately. Normally you would also modify the 'underlying' UIDs. As a disadvantage of this flexibility, the user has to assure, that when creating 'new' dicom files with new UIDs with dcmodify, other UIDs have to be updated by the user as necessary.
When choosing the '-gin' option, the related metaheader tag ('Media Storage SOP Instance UID') is updated automatically. This behaviour can not be disabled.
-i --insert-tag:
dcmodify -i "(0010,0010)=A Name" file.dcm
Inserts the PatientsName tag into 'file.dcm' at 1st level.
If tag already exists, -i will overwrite it! If you want to
insert an element with value multiplicity > 1 (e.g. 4) you
can do this with: dcmodify -i "(0018,1310)=1\\2\\3\\4"
dcmodify -i "(0008,1111)[0].PatientsName=Another Name" *.dcm
Inserts PatientsName tag into the first item of sequence
(0008,1111). Note that the use of wildcards for files is
possible. You can specify longer tag paths, too (e.g.
"(0008,1111)[0].(0008,1111)[1].(0010,0010)=A Third One").
-m --modify-tag:
dcmodify -m "(0010,0010)=A Name" file.dcm
Changes tag (0010,0010) on 1st level to "A Name".
This option also allows longer tag paths as demonstrated
above for -i.
-ma --modify-all-tags:
dcmodify -ma "(0010,0010)=New Name" file.dcm
Does the same as -m but works on all matching tags found in
'file.dcm'. Therefore, it searches the whole dataset including
sequences for tag (0010,0010) and changes them to "New Name"
-e --erase-tag:
dcmodify -e "(0010,0010)" *.dcm
Erases tag (0010,0010) in all *.dcm files at 1st level.
Note: You can also erase whole sequences by using this
option with a sequence tag, but in this version it's not
possible to delete a single item in a sequence.
This option also allows longer tag paths as demonstrated
above for -i.
-ea --erase-all-tags:
dcmodify -ea "(0010,0010)" *.dcm
Same as -e, but also searches in sequences and items.
-gst --gen-stud-uid:
dcmodify -gst file.dcm
This generates a new value for the StudyInstanceUID
(0020,000d). Other UIDs are not modified!
-gse --gen-ser-uid:
dcmodify -gse file.dcm
This generates a new value for the SeriesInstanceUID
(0020,000e). Other UIDs are not modified!
-gin --gen-inst-uid:
dcmodify -gin file.dcm
This command generates a new value for the SOPInstanceUID
(0008,0018). The corresponding MediaStorageSOPInstanceUID
(0002,0003) is adjustet to the new value automatically.
Please note, that it's not possible to avoid this
metaheader update via the -nmu option.
-nmu --no-meta-uid:
dcmodify -m "SOPInstanceUID=[UID]" -nmu *.dcm
This will modify the SOPInstanceUID to the given [UID],
but -nmu avoids, that dcmodify adjusts the
MediaStorageSOPInstanceUID in the metaheader, too.
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.