json2dcm(1)                       OFFIS DCMTK                      json2dcm(1)

NAME
       json2dcm - Convert JSON document to DICOM file or data set


SYNOPSIS
       json2dcm [options] jsonfile-in dcmfile-out

DESCRIPTION
       The json2dcm utility converts the contents of a JSON (JavaScript Object
       Notation)  document  to  a  binary  DICOM  file  or  data set. The JSON
       document is expected to conform to the 'DICOM JSON Model' as defined in
       DICOM Part 18 Section F. Such JSON files can be  created,  e.g.,  using
       the dcm2json tool.

PARAMETERS
       jsonfile-in  JSON input filename to be converted ("-" for stdin)

       dcmfile-out  DICOM output filename ("-" for stdout)

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

   input options
       input file format:

         +f   --read-meta-info
                read meta information if present (default)

         -f   --ignore-meta-info
                ignore file meta information

   processing options
       unique identifiers:

         +Ug  --generate-new-uids
                generate new Study/Series/SOP Instance UID

         -Uo  --dont-overwrite-uids
                do not overwrite existing UIDs (default)

         +Uo  --overwrite-uids
                overwrite existing UIDs

       bulkdata URI handling:

         +Bu  --parse-bulkdata-uri
                parse Bulkdata URIs (default)

         -Bu  --ignore-bulkdata-uri
                ignore Bulkdata URIs

         +Bd  --add-bulkdata-dir  [d]irectory: string
                add d to list of permitted bulk data sources

       handling of arrays with multiple data sets:

         -ar  --array-reject
                reject multiple data sets (default)

         +as  --array-select  [n]umber: integer
                select data set n from array

         +ar  --array-sequence
                store all data sets in private sequence

   output options
       output file format:

         +F   --write-file
                write file format (default)

         -F   --write-dataset
                write data set without file meta information

         +Fu  --update-meta-info
                update particular 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

         +td  --write-xfer-deflated
                write with deflated explicit VR little endian TS

       error handling:

         -E   --stop-on-error
                do not write if document is invalid (default)

         +E   --ignore-errors
                attempt to write even if document is invalid

       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

       length encoding in sequences and items:

         +e   --length-explicit
                write with explicit lengths (default)

         -e   --length-undefined
                write with undefined lengths

       charset handling:

         +c   --charset-accept
                write with the given charset in JSON (default)

         -c   --charset-replace
                replace the given charset in JSON with UTF-8

       deflate compression level (only with --write-xfer-deflated):

         +cl  --compression-level  [l]evel: integer (default: 6)
                0=uncompressed, 1=fastest, 9=best compression

NOTES
       The basic structure of the JSON input expected looks like the following
       (see DICOM Part 18 Section F for details):

       {
           "00080005": {
               "vr": "CS",
               "Value": [
                   "ISO_IR 192"
               ]
           },
           "00080020": {
               "vr": "DT",
               "Value": [
                   "20130409"
               ]
           },
           "00080030": {
               "vr": "TM",
               "Value": [
                   "131600.0000"
               ]
           },
           "00080050": {
               "vr": "SH",
               "Value": [
                   "11235813"
               ]
           },
           "00080056": {
               "vr": "CS",
               "Value": [
                   "ONLINE"
               ]
           },
           "00080061": {
               "vr": "CS",
               "Value": [
                   "CT",
                   "PET"
               ]
           },
           "00080090": {
               "vr": "PN",
               "Value": [
                 {
                   "Alphabetic": "ˆBobˆˆDr."
                 }
               ]
           },
           "00081190": {
               "vr": "UR",
               "Value": [
                   "http://wado.nema.org/studies/
                   1.2.392.200036.9116.2.2.2.1762893313.1029997326.945873"
               ]
           },
           "00090010": {
               "vr": "LO",
               "Value": [
                   "Vendor A"
               ]
           },
           "00091002": {
               "vr": "UN",
               "InlineBinary": "z0x9c8v7"
           },
           "00100010": {
               "vr": "PN",
               "Value": [
                 {
                   "Alphabetic": "WangˆXiaoDong"
                 }
               ]
           },
           "00100020": {
               "vr": "LO",
               "Value": [
                   "12345"
               ]
           },
           "00100021": {
               "vr": "LO",
               "Value": [
                   "Hospital A"
               ]
           },
           "00100030": {
               "vr": "DA",
               "Value": [
                   "19670701"
               ]
           },
           "00100040": {
               "vr": "CS",
               "Value": [
                   "M"
               ]
           },
           "00101002": {
               "vr": "SQ",
               "Value": [
                   {
                       "00100020": {
                           "vr": "LO",
                           "Value": [
                               "54321"
                           ]
                       },
                       "00100021": {
                           "vr": "LO",
                           "Value": [
                               "Hospital B"
                           ]
                       }
                   },
                   {
                       "00100020": {
                           "vr": "LO",
                           "Value": [
                               "24680"
                           ]
                       },
                       "00100021": {
                           "vr": "LO",
                           "Value": [
                               "Hospital C"
                           ]
                       }
                   }
               ]
           },
           "0020000D": {
               "vr": "UI",
               "Value": [
                   "1.2.392.200036.9116.2.2.2.1762893313.1029997326.945873"
               ]
           },
           "00200010": {
               "vr": "SH",
               "Value": [
                   "11235813"
               ]
           },
           "00201206": {
               "vr": "IS",
               "Value": [
                   4
               ]
           },
           "00201208": {
               "vr": "IS",
               "Value": [
                   942
               ]
           }
       }

   Character Encoding
       The  JSON format only supports UTF-8 encoding. Thus the generated DICOM
       file will also contain UTF-8  encoding.  If  the  JSON  file  does  not
       contain  a  specific  character  set, or a specific character set other
       than 'ISO_IR 192', a warning will be issued.

   Binary Data, Bulk Data, and Pixel Data
       The DICOM JSON Model uses 'InlineBinary' to store attribute  values  of
       binary value representations such as 'OB', 'OW', 'OD', 'OF', 'OL', 'OV'
       etc.  in  Base64  encoded  form.  This is supported in json2dcm for all
       binary attributes, including unencapsulated pixel data.

       The DICOM JSON  Model  also  permits  attribute  values  to  be  stored
       separately  from  the  JSON  data  set  and  to be referenced through a
       BulkDataURI. This is supported for file URIs that  reference  files  in
       the  local  filesystem.  json2dcm  tool  also  supports  the inofficial
       extension to the file URI scheme generated by DCM4CHE, where parameters
       named 'offset' and 'length' are appended to the file URI  in  order  to
       refer  to  a  specific  part  of a file. HTTP URIs as well as URIs that
       identify another part in a MIME multipart/related structure are not yet
       supported in json2dcm. If the command line option --ignore-bulkdata-uri
       is specified, then all bulk data URIs are ignored and  attributes  with
       bulk data will be written with empty value.

       Finally,  encapsulated  (in  particular,  compressed) pixel data is not
       supported by json2dcm because the syntax of the DICOM  JSON  Model  for
       this specific case is not defined in the DICOM standard yet.

   Arrays of Data Sets
       The  DICOM  JSON  Model  uses a JSON array structure to return multiple
       data sets in DICOMweb services such as WADO-RS or QIDO-RS. JSON  arrays
       containing  a  single  DICOM  data  set are automatically recognized by
       json2dcm and treated like a data  set  without  the  surrounding  array
       structure.  JSON  arrays  containing multiple data sets are rejected by
       default. Alternatively, the --array-select option can be used to select
       one data set from the  array  to  be  converted.  The  --array-sequence
       option  causes  all  data  sets  to be written as sequence items into a
       single private sequence with attribute  tag  (0009,1000).  Such  files,
       which  are mostly intended for debugging purposes, can be recognized by
       the  private  creator  element  (0009,0010),  which   has   the   value
       'JSON2DCM_LIST_OF_DATASETS'.

   Trailing Commas
       Trailing  commas  are  not  permitted  in JSON, but json2dcm will still
       accept such JSON data sets without warning  or  error  message  because
       they  are  handled  gracefully  by  the  underlying  JSON parser. Users
       should, therefore, not assume that  a  JSON  data  set  is  valid  just
       because  json2dcm  accepts it. This tool is not designed as a validator
       for JSON or the DICOM JSON Model.

LOGGING
       The level of logging output of  the  various  command  line  tools  and
       underlying  libraries  can  be  specified by the user. By default, only
       errors and warnings are written to the  standard  error  stream.  Using
       option  --verbose  also  informational messages like processing details
       are reported. Option --debug can be used to get  more  details  on  the
       internal  activity,  e.g.  for debugging purposes. Other logging levels
       can be selected using option --log-level. In --quiet  mode  only  fatal
       errors  are reported. In such very severe error events, the application
       will usually terminate. For  more  details  on  the  different  logging
       levels, see documentation of module 'oflog'.

       In  case  the logging output should be written to file (optionally with
       logfile rotation), to syslog (Unix) or the event log  (Windows)  option
       --log-config  can  be  used.  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 are generated.  An  example  configuration  file  is  provided  in
       <etcdir>/logger.cfg.

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), a combination of both
       means 0 to n values.

       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.

       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.
       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).

EXIT CODES
       The dcm2json utility uses the following exit  codes  when  terminating.
       This  enables  the  user  to  check  for the reason why the application
       terminated.

   general
       EXITCODE_NO_ERROR                               0
       EXITCODE_COMMANDLINE_SYNTAX_ERROR               1

   input file errors
       EXITCODE_CANNOT_READ_INPUT_FILE                 20

   output file errors
       EXITCODE_CANNOT_WRITE_OUTPUT_FILE               40

   processing errors
       EXITCODE_INVALID_JSON_CONTENT                   65
       EXITCODE_BULKDATA_URI_NOT_SUPPORTED             66

ENVIRONMENT
       The json2dcm 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. 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. It is an error if no data  dictionary
       can be loaded.

SEE ALSO
       dcm2json(1) dump2dcm(2)

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C)  2024-2025  by OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg,
       Germany.

Version 3.7.0                   Mon Dec 15 2025                    json2dcm(1)
