getscu(1)
💖 NAME 💖
okay bestie, welcome to getscu(1) — the OFFIS DCMTK manual page for the DICOM retrieve (C-GET) SCU, and yes, she is that girl 💅
getscu — DICOM retrieve (C-GET) SCU ✨
🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸
getscu [options] peer port [dcmfile-in...]🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋
The getscu application implements an SCU for the Query/Retrieve Service Class. getscu supports retrieve functionality using the C-GET message. It sends query keys to an SCP and waits for responses with images or other DICOM objects sent via C-STORE.
As the DICOM service demands, C-GET and the accompanying C-STORE messages are handled on the same association. This is the whole vibe. Therefore, objects can only be received by getscu itself and cannot be sent to a third party — movescu would be the right tool for this task, no cap.
💀 bestie, this is not a "forward it to your friend" situation. getscu receives the objects itself, periodt.
🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀
- peer — hostname of DICOM peer 🌐
- port — tcp/ip port number of peer 🔌
- dcmfile-in — DICOM query file(s) 📄
✨ OPTIONS ✨
🌟 general options 🌟
-h,--help— print this help text and exit 🫶--version— print version information and exit ⭐--arguments— print expanded command line arguments 🧚-q,--quiet— quiet mode, print no warnings and errors 🤫-v,--verbose— verbose mode, print processing details 👀-d,--debug— debug mode, print debug information 🐛-ll,--log-level—[l]evel: string constant(fatal,error,warn,info,debug,trace): use level l for the logger 🪵-lc,--log-config—[f]ilename: string: use config file f for the logger ⚙️+v,--verbose-pc— show presentation contexts in verbose mode 🖼️
🌐 network options 🌐
🔑 override matching keys:
-k,--key—[k]ey: gggg,eeee="str", path or dictionary name="str": override matching key 🔑
🧠 query information model:
-P,--patient— use patient root information model (default) 👑-S,--study— use study root information model 📚-O,--psonly— use patient/study only information model 🌱
🌈 IP protocol version:
-i4,--ipv4— use IPv4 only (default) 🟢-i6,--ipv6— use IPv6 only 🔵-i0,--ip-auto— use DNS lookup to determine IP protocol 🧭
🪪 application entity titles:
-aet,--aetitle—[a]etitle: string: set my calling AE title (default:GETSCU) 💌-aec,--call—[a]etitle: string: set called AE title of peer (default:ANY-SCP) 📞
🖼️ preferred storage transfer syntaxes (incoming associations):
+x=,--prefer-uncompr— prefer explicit VR local byte order (default) 🎀+xe,--prefer-little— prefer explicit VR little endian TS 🐘+xb,--prefer-big— prefer explicit VR big endian TS 🐘+xs,--prefer-lossless— prefer default JPEG lossless TS 🍓+xy,--prefer-jpeg8— prefer default JPEG lossy TS for 8 bit data 🌸+xx,--prefer-jpeg12— prefer default JPEG lossy TS for 12 bit data 🌸+xv,--prefer-j2k-lossless— prefer JPEG 2000 lossless TS 🦋+xw,--prefer-j2k-lossy— prefer JPEG 2000 lossy TS 🦋+xt,--prefer-jls-lossless— prefer JPEG-LS lossless TS 💜+xu,--prefer-jls-lossy— prefer JPEG-LS lossy TS 💜+xm,--prefer-mpeg2— prefer MPEG2 Main Profile @ Main Level TS 🎬+xh,--prefer-mpeg2-high— prefer MPEG2 Main Profile @ High Level TS 🎬+xn,--prefer-mpeg4— prefer MPEG4 AVC/H.264 HP / Level 4.1 TS 📹+xl,--prefer-mpeg4-bd— prefer MPEG4 AVC/H.264 BD-compatible HP / Level 4.1 TS 📹+x2,--prefer-mpeg4-2-2d— prefer MPEG4 AVC/H.264 HP / Level 4.2 TS for 2D Videos 🎥+x3,--prefer-mpeg4-2-3d— prefer MPEG4 AVC/H.264 HP / Level 4.2 TS for 3D Videos 🎥+xo,--prefer-mpeg4-2-st— prefer MPEG4 AVC/H.264 Stereo HP / Level 4.2 TS 🥽+x4,--prefer-hevc— prefer HEVC/H.265 Main Profile / Level 5.1 TS 🔥+x5,--prefer-hevc10— prefer HEVC/H.265 Main 10 Profile / Level 5.1 TS 🔥+xr,--prefer-rle— prefer RLE lossless TS 🧩+xd,--prefer-deflated— prefer deflated explicit VR little endian TS 🫧+xi,--implicit— accept implicit VR little endian TS only 🚫
📤 proposed retrieve transfer syntaxes (outgoing associations):
-x=,--propose-uncompr— propose all uncompressed TS, explicit VR with local byte ordering first (default) 💌-xe,--propose-little— propose all uncompressed TS, explicit VR little endian first 🐘-xb,--propose-big— propose all uncompressed TS, explicit VR big endian first 🐘-xd,--propose-deflated— propose deflated explicit VR little endian TS and all uncompressed transfer syntaxes 🫧-xi,--propose-implicit— propose implicit VR little endian TS only 🚫
🛰️ other network options:
-to,--timeout—[s]econds: integer(default: unlimited): timeout for connection requests ⏳-ta,--acse-timeout—[s]econds: integer(default:30): timeout for ACSE messages ⏱️-td,--dimse-timeout—[s]econds: integer(default: unlimited): timeout for DIMSE messages ⏳-pdu,--max-pdu—[n]umber of bytes: integer (4096..131072): set max receive pdu to n bytes (default:16384) 📦--repeat—[n]umber: integer: repeat n times 🔁--abort— abort association instead of releasing it 💥
🔐 transport layer security (TLS) options 🔐
🧵 transport protocol stack:
-tls,--disable-tls— use normal TCP/IP connection (default) 🌐+tls,--enable-tls—[p]rivate key file, [c]ertificate file: string: use authenticated secure TLS connection 🔒+tla,--anonymous-tls— use secure TLS connection without certificate 🕵️
🔑 private key password (only with --enable-tls):
+ps,--std-passwd— prompt user to type password on stdin (default) ⌨️+pw,--use-passwd—[p]assword: string: use specified password 🔑-pw,--null-passwd— use empty string as password 🫥
📜 key and certificate file format:
-pem,--pem-keys— read keys and certificates as PEM file (default) 📄-der,--der-keys— read keys and certificates as DER file 📄
🏛️ certification authority:
+cf,--add-cert-file—[f]ilename: string: add certificate file to list of certificates 🧾+cd,--add-cert-dir—[d]irectory: string: add certificates in d to list of certificates 📁+crl,--add-crl-file—[f]ilename: string: add certificate revocation list file (implies--enable-crl-vfy) 🚫+crv,--enable-crl-vfy— enable leaf CRL verification 🍃+cra,--enable-crl-all— enable full chain CRL verification ⛓️
🛡️ security profile:
+ph,--list-profiles— list supported TLS profiles and exit 📋+pg,--profile-8996— BCP 195 RFC 8996 TLS Profile (default) 👑+pm,--profile-8996-mod— Modified BCP 195 RFC 8996 TLS Profile 🌸
# only available if underlying TLS library supports all TLS features required for this profile+py,--profile-bcp195-nd— Non-downgrading BCP 195 TLS Profile (retired) 🪦+px,--profile-bcp195— BCP 195 TLS Profile (retired) 🪦+pz,--profile-bcp195-ex— Extended BCP 195 TLS Profile (retired) 🪦+pb,--profile-basic— Basic TLS Secure Transport Connection Profile (retired) 🪦
# only available if underlying TLS library supports 3DES+pa,--profile-aes— AES TLS Secure Transport Connection Profile (retired) 🪦+pn,--profile-null— Authenticated unencrypted communication (retired, was used in IHE ATNA) 🪦
🔐 ciphersuite:
+cc,--list-ciphers— list supported TLS ciphersuites and exit 📋+cs,--cipher—[c]iphersuite name: string: add ciphersuite to list of negotiated suites 🧩
🏷️ server name indication:
--no-sni— do not use SNI (default) 🚫--request-sni—[s]erver name: string: request server name s 📛
🎲 pseudo random generator:
+rs,--seed—[f]ilename: string: seed random generator with contents of f 🌱+ws,--write-seed— write back modified seed (only with--seed) 💾+wf,--write-seed-file—[f]ilename: string(only with--seed): write modified seed to file f 📝
🪪 peer authentication:
-rc,--require-peer-cert— verify peer certificate, fail if absent (default) ✅-ic,--ignore-peer-cert— don't verify peer certificate 🙈
📦 output options 📦
🗂️ general:
-od,--output-directory—[d]irectory: string(default:"."): write received objects to existing directory d 📁
💾 storage mode:
-B,--normal— receive in memory, then write to disk (default) 🧠+B,--bit-preserving— receive directly to disk 💽--ignore— ignore store data, receive but do not store 🚮
📝 NOTES 📝
Each file supplied on the command line will be sent to the SCP as part of a C-GET request. The query file must be a valid DICOM data set containing the dataset part of a C-GET-RQ message. The query file could, for instance, be created with the dump2dcm utility from a script like the following example:
# request all images for the patient with ID=PAT001
(0008,0052) CS [PATIENT] # QueryRetrieveLevel
(0010,0020) LO [PAT001] # PatientIDAnother possibility is to use the dcmodify tool to create a file from scratch using the option --create-file with successive calls to the --insert option. Individual attributes can be modified or supplemented using the -k (or --key) option. For example the command:
getscu -k "0010,0020=PAT002" caesar 5678 patqry.dcmwill, when sent to the SCP caesar at TCP/IP port 5678, cause any PatientID attribute in patqry.dcm to have the value 'PAT002'. If such an attribute is present it will be replaced, if absent it will be inserted. The -k option can be present more than once. The value part (after the '=') may be absent causing the attribute to be sent with zero length. It is also possible to specify sequences, items and nested attributes using the -k option. In these cases, a special "path" notation has to be used. Details can be found in the dcmodify documentation.
If no file is specified on the command line, the query must be specified completely with one or more -k options. If multiple query files are provided, getscu will send multiple C-GET requests to the SCP. 🔁
💀 Known Problems 💀
getscu is intended to be used as a testing tool for DICOM software developers. The query keys file must be created by hand based upon the contents of the SCP. 🫠
no cap, bestie: this is a developer testing-tool situation, and the query keys file is a handmade thing based on what the SCP has. 💅
- C-GET? yeah, not every Query/Retrieve SCP is gonna play nice with it 🙈 the C-MOVE protocol — which is what the
movescutool implements — is way more common out there in the wild. iykyk. - also real talk:
getscumakes no attempt to stop you from sending a bad query. none. zero. it will absolutely let you cook 🔥 in particular, the query keys of a C-MOVE request should only contain theQueryRetrieveLevelattribute and one or more of the so-called "unique key attributes" (PatientID,StudyInstanceUID,SeriesInstanceUIDandSOPInstanceUID). that's the whole guest list, bestie — nobody else gets in 💅
🌈 DICOM Conformance 🌈
✨ SCU Conformance ✨
okay so here's the tea on what getscu can do as an SCU — it supports these SOP Classes, periodt:
GETPatientRootQueryRetrieveInformationModel—1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.2.1.3GETStudyRootQueryRetrieveInformationModel—1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.2.2.3GETPatientStudyOnlyQueryRetrieveInformationModel—1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.2.3.3
the getscu application will propose presentation contexts for one of the abovementioned supported SOP Classes depending on your command line options (-P, -S, or -O). your flags, your fate 🦋
for outgoing associations, these transfer syntaxes are supported:
LittleEndianImplicitTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2LittleEndianExplicitTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.1DeflatedExplicitVRLittleEndianTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.1.99(*)BigEndianExplicitTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.2
(*) only if it was compiled with zlib support enabled 👀 check the --version output to find out. no zlib, no deflate, that's the rule 💀
which transfer syntaxes actually get proposed, and in what order, is fully up to you — you specify that with the --propose options. main character energy, honestly 👑
🎀 Storage Conformance 🎀
and when getscu is out here being an SCP, it supports this one:
VerificationSOPClass—1.2.840.10008.1.1
just the vibe check class, and honestly? she slays it 💖
...still going, bestie, the guest list is long but every single one of these is getting an invite 💅 Here's the rest of the SOP Class lineup — name on the left, UID on the right, and yeah you need both, that's the whole point:
RETIRED_StoredPrintStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.1.27
RETIRED_HardcopyGrayscaleImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.1.29
RETIRED_HardcopyColorImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.1.30
ComputedRadiographyImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1
DigitalXRayImageStorageForPresentation 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1.1
DigitalXRayImageStorageForProcessing 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1.1.1
DigitalMammographyXRayImageStorageForPresentation 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1.2
DigitalMammographyXRayImageStorageForProcessing 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1.2.1
DigitalIntraOralXRayImageStorageForPresentation 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1.3
DigitalIntraOralXRayImageStorageForProcessing 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.1.3.1
CTImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.2
EnhancedCTImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.2.1
LegacyConvertedEnhancedCTImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.2.2
RETIRED_UltrasoundMultiframeImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.3
UltrasoundMultiframeImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.3.1
MRImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.4
EnhancedMRImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.4.1
MRSpectroscopyStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.4.2
EnhancedMRColorImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.4.3
LegacyConvertedEnhancedMRImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.4.4
RETIRED_NuclearMedicineImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.5
RETIRED_UltrasoundImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.6
UltrasoundImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.6.1
EnhancedUSVolumeStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.6.2
SecondaryCaptureImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7
MultiframeSingleBitSecondaryCaptureImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7.1
MultiframeGrayscaleByteSecondaryCaptureImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7.2
MultiframeGrayscaleWordSecondaryCaptureImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7.3
MultiframeTrueColorSecondaryCaptureImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.7.4
RETIRED_StandaloneOverlayStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.8
RETIRED_StandaloneCurveStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9
TwelveLeadECGWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.1.1
GeneralECGWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.1.2
AmbulatoryECGWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.1.3
HemodynamicWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.2.1
CardiacElectrophysiologyWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.3.1
BasicVoiceAudioWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.4.1
GeneralAudioWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.4.2
ArterialPulseWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.5.1
RespiratoryWaveformStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.9.6.1
RETIRED_StandaloneModalityLUTStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.10
RETIRED_StandaloneVOILUTStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.11
GrayscaleSoftcopyPresentationStateStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.11.1
ColorSoftcopyPresentationStateStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.11.2
PseudoColorSoftcopyPresentationStateStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.11.3
BlendingSoftcopyPresentationStateStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.11.4
XAXRFGrayscaleSoftcopyPresentationStateStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.11.5
XRayAngiographicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.1
EnhancedXAImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.1.1
XRayRadiofluoroscopicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.2
EnhancedXRFImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.2.1
RETIRED_XRayAngiographicBiPlaneImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.12.3
XRay3DAngiographicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.13.1.1
XRay3DCraniofacialImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.13.1.2
BreastTomosynthesisImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.13.1.3
IntravascularOpt.Coh.Tom.ImageStorageForPresentation 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.14.1
IntravascularOpt.Coh.Tom.ImageStorageForProcessing 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.14.2
NuclearMedicineImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.20
RawDataStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.66
SpatialRegistrationStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.66.1
SpatialFiducialsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.66.2
DeformableSpatialRegistrationStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.66.3
SegmentationStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.66.4
SurfaceSegmentationStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.66.5
RealWorldValueMappingStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.67
SurfaceScanMeshStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.68.1
SurfaceScanPointCloudStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.68.2
RETIRED_VLImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1
VLEndoscopicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.1
VideoEndoscopicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.1.1
VLMicroscopicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.2
VideoMicroscopicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.2.1
VLSlideCoordinatesMicroscopicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.3
VLPhotographicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.4
VideoPhotographicImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.4.1
OphthalmicPhotography8BitImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.5.1
OphthalmicPhotography16BitImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.5.2
StereometricRelationshipStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.5.3
OphthalmicTomographyImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.5.4
VLWholeSlideMicroscopyImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.1.6
RETIRED_VLMultiframeImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.77.2
LensometryMeasurementsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.1
AutorefractionMeasurementsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.2
KeratometryMeasurementsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.3
SubjectiveRefractionMeasurementsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.4
VisualAcuityMeasurementsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.5
SpectaclePrescriptionReportStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.6
OphthalmicAxialMeasurementsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.7
IntraocularLensCalculationsStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.78.8
MacularGridThicknessAndVolumeReportStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.79.1
OphthalmicVisualFieldStaticPerimetryMeasurementsSt. 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.80.1
OphthalmicThicknessMapStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.81.1
BasicTextSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.11
EnhancedSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.22
ComprehensiveSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.33
Comprehensive3DSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.34
ProcedureLogStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.40
MammographyCADSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.50
KeyObjectSelectionDocumentStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.59
ChestCADSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.65
XRayRadiationDoseSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.67
ColonCADSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.69
ImplantationPlanSRStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.88.70
EncapsulatedPDFStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.104.1
EncapsulatedCDAStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.104.2
PositronEmissionTomographyImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.128
LegacyConvertedEnhancedPETImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.128.1
RETIRED_StandalonePETCurveStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.129
EnhancedPETImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.130
BasicStructuredDisplayStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.131
RTImageStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.1
RTDoseStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.2
RTStructureSetStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.3
RTBeamsTreatmentRecordStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.4
RTPlanStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.5
RTBrachyTreatmentRecordStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.6
RTTreatmentSummaryRecordStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.7
RTIonPlanStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.8
RTIonBeamsTreatmentRecordStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.481.9
RTBeamsDeliveryInstructionStorage 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.34.7Okay phew, that's the whole roster 🫶 Now for the actual tea: getscu will usually accept presentation contexts for all of the SOP Classes we just listed up there, using any of these transfer syntaxes:
LittleEndianImplicitTransferSyntax 1.2.840.10008.1.2
LittleEndianExplicitTransferSyntax 1.2.840.10008.1.2.1
BigEndianExplicitTransferSyntax 1.2.840.10008.1.2.2And here's where it gets a lil opinionated 😌 When it's acting as a storage SCP, getscu prefers transfer syntaxes that have an explicit encoding over the default implicit transfer syntax — it's just built different, no cap. And if getscu happens to be running on big-endian hardware, it'll prefer BigEndianExplicit over LittleEndianExplicit (and the other way around on little-endian, duh). You can absolutely change all of this with the --prefer options, which are up above if you skipped 'em (go back, bestie, they're important 👀). And depending on which --prefer option you actually ended up using, a combination of the following transfer syntaxes is supported:
LittleEndianImplicitTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2LittleEndianExplicitTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.1DeflatedExplicitVRLittleEndianTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.1.99(*)BigEndianExplicitTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.2JPEGProcess1TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.50JPEGProcess2_4TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.51JPEGProcess14SV1TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.70JPEGLSLosslessTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.80JPEGLSLossyTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.81JPEG2000LosslessOnlyTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.90JPEG2000TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.91MPEG2MainProfileAtMainLevelTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.100MPEG2MainProfileAtHighLevelTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.101MPEG4HighProfileLevel4_1TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.102MPEG4BDcompatibleHighProfileLevel4_1TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.103MPEG4HighProfileLevel4_2_For2DVideoTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.104MPEG4HighProfileLevel4_2_For3DVideoTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.105MPEG4StereoHighProfileLevel4_2TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.106HEVCMainProfileLevel5_1TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.107HEVCMain10ProfileLevel5_1TransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.108RLELosslessTransferSyntax—1.2.840.10008.1.2.5
(*) only if it was compiled with zlib support enabled — peep the --version output to check, bestie 🫶
Also, huge heads-up: getscu does not support extended negotiation. That's just how it is, no notes 💅
🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈
okay so watch this:
getscu --patient --call ARCHIVE caesar 104 q.dcmThat sends the attributes contained in the DICOM file q.dcm as part of a C-GET request to the application entity ARCHIVE on the host caesar at port 104, using the Patient Root query model. And getscu itself? It rolls with the default AE title GETSCU. main character energy ✨
Now here's the little plot twist you need to know about — in contrast to C-MOVE-based Query/Retrieve SOP Classes, the C-GET-based SOP Classes that getscu uses only permit retrieving the desired objects on the same connection, i.e. getscu will receive the objects itself. So no, you can't tell the SCP to yeet the objects over to a third party. 😭 And that's literally not getscu's fault — it's a limitation of the DICOM protocol itself, not of the getscu tool. fr fr.
🎀 LOGGING 🎀
So the level of logging output of the various command line tools and underlying libraries? That's up to you, bestie — user's choice. By default, only errors and warnings get written to the standard error stream. Basic but valid.
Wanna see more? --verbose also reports informational messages like processing details. 👀 And --debug gets you more details on the internal activity, e.g. for debugging purposes — perfect when you're being a little detective 🔍
Other logging levels can be selected using --log-level. And in --quiet mode? Only fatal errors are reported. In those very severe error events, the application will usually terminate 💀 like okay dramatic but fair.
For more details on the different logging levels, see the documentation of module "oflog".
Now, if you want that logging output written to a file (optionally with logfile rotation 💫), to syslog (Unix) or to the event log (Windows), use --log-config. This configuration file also allows for directing only certain messages to a particular output stream and for filtering certain messages based on the module or application where they're generated. An example configuration file is provided in <etcdir>/logger.cfg — go look, it's giving helpful 🎁
💜 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), and a combination of both means 0 to n values. Little syntax cheat sheet, love that for us 🍓
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 behavior conforms to the standard evaluation rules of common Unix shells. So the rightmost one wins, no cap 👑
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 unless they appear between two quotation marks) prior to any further evaluation.
⚠️ Please note that a command file cannot contain another command file. No inception, sorry 🌀
This simple but effective approach allows one to summarize common combinations of options/parameters and avoids longish and confusing command lines (an example is provided in file <datadir>/dumppat.txt). iconic honestly ✨
🦋 ENVIRONMENT 🦋
The getscu 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 <datadir>/dicom.dic will be loaded — unless the dictionary is built into the application (default for Windows). 🪟
The default behavior should be preferred, and the DCMDICTPATH environment variable only used when alternative data dictionaries are required. Like, don't touch it unless you gotta 🙈
The DCMDICTPATH environment variable has the same format as the Unix shell PATH variable in that a colon (":") separates entries. On Windows systems, a semicolon (";") is used as a separator. The data dictionary code will attempt to load each file specified in the DCMDICTPATH environment variable. And it is an error if no data dictionary can be loaded. 💀
🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸
Go read these too, they're the friend group:
👑 COPYRIGHT 👑
Copyright (C) 2011-2026 by OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany.
okay that's the whole page bestie, you're officially fluent 💖 this was Version 3.7.1, dated Sat Oct 17 2026 09:34:01 — go query something and slay ✨🎀🦋
📦 where this page comes from
- arch rolling: dcmtk 3.7.1-1 · BSD-3-Clause
- 💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms