Most efficient way to change the value of a specific tag in a DICOM file using GDCM

Question

I have a need to go through a set of DICOM files and modify certain tags to be current with the data maintained in the database of an external system. I am looking to use GDCM. I am new to GDCM. A search through stack overflow posts demonstrates that the anonymizer class can be used to change tag values.

Generating a simple CT DICOM image using GDCM

My question is if this is the best use of the GDCM API or if there is a better approach for changing the values of individual tags such as patient name or accession number. I am unfamiliar with all of the API options but have a link to the API documentation. It looks like the DataElement SetValue member could be used, but it doesn't appear that there is a valid constructor for doing this in the Value class. Any assistance would appreciated. This is my current approach:

Anonymizer anon = new Anonymizer();
 anon.SetFile(myFile);
 anon.Replace(new Tag(0x0010, 0x0010), "BUGS^BUNNY");

Answer 1

Quite late, but maybe it would be still useful. You have not mention if you write in C++ or C#, but I assume the latter, as you do not use pointers. Generally, your approach is correct (unless you use System.IO.File instead of gdcm.File). The value (second parameter of Replace function) has to be a plain string so no special constructor is needed. You should probably start with doxygen documentation of gdcm, and there is especially one complete example. It is in C++, but there should be no problems with translation.

Answer 2

There are two different ways to pad dicom tags:

1. Anonymizer

   gdcm::Anonymizer anon;
   anon.SetFile(file);   
   anon.Replace(gdcm::Tag(0x0002, 0x0013), "Implementation Version Name"); 
   //Implementation Version Name
   

2. DatsElement

   gdcm::Attribute<0x0018, 0x0088> ss;
   ss.SetValue(10.0);
   ds.Insert(ss.GetAsDataElement());