What format is index.dat in?

[markm]

I didn't see anything about this in the FAQ section:

I've done some great things with the dicom toolkit, but want to do more. I'm not a database expert, and I need to know what format the index.dat file is in? The filename index.dat seems to be used by a lot varied software out there so I found a websearch fruitless. I am only interested in the use for the dcmtk/imagectn.

I would rather process the idex.dat file instead of reading every single image header.

Thanks in advance for any help!


Sincerely,

Mark Martin

[Thomas Wilkens]

The starting point for the things you want to do is the "IdxRecord" structure in dcmtk-3.5.3/imagectn/include/dbpriv.h, line 274. Each instance in the index.dat file is a binary copy of a variable whose data type is IdxRecord. Check DCMTK's source code for what is exactly done with IdxRecord.