c#: how to read parts of a file? (DICOM)

Question

I would like to read a DICOM file in C#. I don\'t want to do anything fancy, I just for now would like to know how to read in the elements, but first I would actually like

Answer 1

you can also use like this.

FileStream fs = File.OpenRead(path);

byte[] data = new byte[132];
fs.Read(data, 0, data.Length);

int b0 = data[0] & 255, b1 = data[1] & 255, b2 = data[2] & 255, b3 = data[3] & 255;

if (data[128] == 68 && data[129] == 73 && data[130] == 67 && data[131] == 77)
        {
           //dicom file
        }
        else if ((b0 == 8 || b0 == 2) && b1 == 0 && b3 == 0)
        {
            //dicom file
        }

Answer 2

Something like this should read the file, its basic and doesn't handle all cases, but it would be a starting point:

public void ReadFile(string filename)
{
    using (FileStream fs = File.OpenRead(filename))
    {
        fs.Seek(128, SeekOrigin.Begin);
        if ((fs.ReadByte() != (byte)'D' ||
             fs.ReadByte() != (byte)'I' ||
             fs.ReadByte() != (byte)'C' ||
             fs.ReadByte() != (byte)'M'))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Not a DCM");
            return;
        }
        BinaryReader reader = new BinaryReader(fs);

        ushort g;
        ushort e;
        do
        {
            g = reader.ReadUInt16();
            e = reader.ReadUInt16();

            string vr = new string(reader.ReadChars(2));
            long length;
            if (vr.Equals("AE") || vr.Equals("AS") || vr.Equals("AT")
                || vr.Equals("CS") || vr.Equals("DA") || vr.Equals("DS")
                || vr.Equals("DT") || vr.Equals("FL") || vr.Equals("FD")
                || vr.Equals("IS") || vr.Equals("LO") || vr.Equals("PN")
                || vr.Equals("SH") || vr.Equals("SL") || vr.Equals("SS")
                || vr.Equals("ST") || vr.Equals("TM") || vr.Equals("UI")
                || vr.Equals("UL") || vr.Equals("US"))
               length = reader.ReadUInt16();
            else
            {
                // Read the reserved byte
                reader.ReadUInt16();
                length = reader.ReadUInt32();
            }

            byte[] val = reader.ReadBytes((int) length);

        } while (g == 2);

        fs.Close();
    }

    return ;
}

The code does not actually try and take into account that the transfer syntax of the encoded data can change after the group 2 elements, it also doesn't try and do anything with the actual values read in.

Answer 3

Taken from EvilDicom.Helper.DicomReader from the Evil Dicom library:

 public static bool IsValidDicom(BinaryReader r)
    {
        try
        {
            //128 null bytes
            byte[] nullBytes = new byte[128];
            r.Read(nullBytes, 0, 128);
            foreach (byte b in nullBytes)
            {
                if (b != 0x00)
                {
                    //Not valid
                    Console.WriteLine("Missing 128 null bit preamble. Not a valid DICOM file!");
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {

            Console.WriteLine("Could not read 128 null bit preamble. Perhaps file is too short");
            return false;
        }

        try
        {
            //4 DICM characters
            char[] dicm = new char[4];
            r.Read(dicm, 0, 4);
            if (dicm[0] != 'D' || dicm[1] != 'I' || dicm[2] != 'C' || dicm[3] != 'M')
            {
                //Not valid
                Console.WriteLine("Missing characters D I C M in bits 128-131. Not a valid DICOM file!");
                return false;
            }
            return true;

        }
        catch (Exception)
        {

            Console.WriteLine("Could not read DICM letters in bits 128-131.");
            return false;
        }

    }

Answer 4

Just some pseudologic

How to I read the header file and verify if it is a DICOM file by checking for the 'D','I','C','M' characters after the 128 byte preamble?

• Open as binary file, using File.OpenRead
• Seek to position 128 and read 4 bytes into the array and compare it againts byte[] value for DICM. You can use ASCIIEncoding.GetBytes() for that

How do I continue to parse the file reading the other parts of the data?

• Continue reading the file using Read or ReadByte using the FileStream object handle that you have earlier
• Use the same method like above to do your comparison.

Dont forget to close and dispose the file.