OFFIS org root for commercial software

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ErWu
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OFFIS org root for commercial software

#1 Post by ErWu »

Hello,

I'm not sure about the following question:

Is it legal i.e. standard conform if a commercial software creates SOP Instances with UIDs that have the OFFIS org root? Is that in the interest of OFFIS?

Thank you in advance.

Eric

Jan Schlamelcher
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Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#2 Post by Jan Schlamelcher »

It's hard to answer this in general; there might be cases where commercial software allows configuring the UID prefix and, if configured to use the OFFIS one, that would be as intended. However, it is certainly not what one should do in some medical device that creates medical images (as in: not for testing purposes). DCMTK has a UID generator that uses various pieces of information to make it rather unlikely that some UID is generated twice. Still, it's better to simply use an appropriate custom per device prefix to make it that more unlikely.

ErWu
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Joined: Tue, 2019-11-12, 09:15

Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#3 Post by ErWu »

Thank you for your answer.

So you mean, use an arbitrary prefix in connection with the DCMTK UID generator would be ok? I though it must be an official registered root. And what if my arbitrary root is the same as a registered root.

Jan Schlamelcher
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Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#4 Post by Jan Schlamelcher »

ErWu wrote: Tue, 2019-11-12, 14:30 So you mean, use an arbitrary prefix in connection with the DCMTK UID generator would be ok? I though it must be an official registered root. And what if my arbitrary root is the same as a registered root.
Well, you should differentiate between testing and production purpose. In production, you are not allowed to use a prefix you don't own. However, if you create a product with configurable prefix, the customer might decide to use their own prefix instead of yours.

J. Riesmeier
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Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#5 Post by J. Riesmeier »

If I were you, I would register my own prefix (e.g. here), add some infix for your current use case (e.g. DICOM product), add the serial number of the device/product (if applicable) and then some suffix that makes sure that you do not generate the same UID twice. For the latter, you could also reuse the algorithm implemented in DCMTK's dcmGenerateUniqueIdentifier() function if your device-specific prefix is not too long.

ErWu
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Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#6 Post by ErWu »

J. Riesmeier wrote: Tue, 2019-11-12, 20:48 If I were you, I would register my own prefix (e.g. here)
The DIN in Germany told me, that they are the "officially named body" ("offiziell benannte Stelle" in german) for those IDs in Germany. But it would be OK to use one from the link you provided?

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Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#7 Post by J. Riesmeier »

Your statement is correct. Whether you should/could use the IANA UID prefix for your intended purposes has to be checked by your company. I was pointing to IANA since registration is free of charge (in contrast to DIN). As far as I known, also DIMDI allows for registering a OID/UID prefix.

ErWu
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Re: OFFIS org root for commercial software

#8 Post by ErWu »

Yes you are right. I've contacted DIMDI and they confirmed that for companies within the field 'healthcare germany' they are the correct contact. for this field the registration there is free.

Thank you again.

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