User Guide 
Version 2.4 
Apr 06, 2009 
 
DVT User Guide 
Version 2.4 
Table of Contents 
1. 
2. 
UPDATE LIST ............................................................................................................................................... 6 
LICENSE AGREEMENT ......................................................................................................................................... 7 
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 8 
2.1  GENERAL ............................................................................................................................................. 8 
2.2  FEATURES ........................................................................................................................................... 8 
2.3  CAPABILITIES ...................................................................................................................................... 9 
2.4  RESTRICTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 9 
2.4.1  General ........................................................................................................................................ 9 
2.5  DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... 9 
2.6  REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 10 
2.7  RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DICOM STANDARD ............................................................................. 11 
3.  GETTING STARTED ............................................................................................................................................ 12 
3.1  SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................... 12 
3.2  RELEASE PACKAGE ......................................................................................................................... 12 
3.3 
INSTALLATION .................................................................................................................................. 14 
4.  DVT DATA STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................................... 15 
4.1  GENERAL ........................................................................................................................................... 15 
4.2  PROJECT FILES ................................................................................................................................ 16 
4.3  SESSION FILES ................................................................................................................................. 16 
4.3.1  Emulator Sessions ..................................................................................................................... 16 
4.3.2  Script Sessions .......................................................................................................................... 16 
4.3.3  Media Sessions .......................................................................................................................... 16 
4.4  DVT SESSION PROPERTIES ........................................................................................................... 16 
4.4.1  SUT Test Session Properties..................................................................................................... 17 
4.4.2  SUT ACSE Properties ................................................................................................................ 17 
4.4.3  DVT ACSE Properties ................................................................................................................ 18 
4.4.4  Socket Properties ....................................................................................................................... 18 
4.4.5  Test Session Properties ............................................................................................................. 19 
4.4.6  Supported Transfer Syntaxes .................................................................................................... 21 
4.4.7  Definitions .................................................................................................................................. 22 
4.4.8  DICOMScripts ............................................................................................................................ 22 
4.4.9  Results ....................................................................................................................................... 22 
4.4.10 
DICOMScript Description Directory ....................................................................................... 22 
4.5  DEFINITION FILE ............................................................................................................................... 23 
4.5.1  Standard Definition Files ............................................................................................................ 23 
4.5.2  Private Definition Files ............................................................................................................... 27 
4.5.3  Special Definition Files ............................................................................................................... 27 
4.6  DATA FILES ....................................................................................................................................... 27 
4.7  DICOM CHARACTER SETS - SUPPORTED BY DVTK .................................................................... 28 
4.8  DICOMSCRIPT ................................................................................................................................... 29 
4.9  DICOMSUPERSCRIPT ...................................................................................................................... 29 
4.10  VBSCRIPT .......................................................................................................................................... 30 
4.11  RESULTS FILE ................................................................................................................................... 30 
Global Results Files ............................................................................................................... 31 
4.12  MEDIA STORAGE FILE ..................................................................................................................... 31 
4.13  RAW DATASET FILE ......................................................................................................................... 32 
4.14  PIXEL FILE ......................................................................................................................................... 32 
4.15  FILE INDEX FILE ................................................................................................................................ 34 
5.  GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE - GUI ............................................................................................................. 35 
5.1  SESSION TREE ................................................................................................................................. 37 
5.2  TAB CONTROL .................................................................................................................................. 39 
5.2.1  Session Information Tab ............................................................................................................ 39 
5.2.2  Specify SOP Classes Tab .......................................................................................................... 44 
5.2.3  Activity Logging Tab ................................................................................................................... 45 
5.2.4  Validation Results Tab ............................................................................................................... 45 
5.2.5  Script Tab ................................................................................................................................... 45 
5.2.6  Results Manager Tab ................................................................................................................. 46 
5.3  MAIN MENU BAR ............................................................................................................................... 48 
5.3.1  File Menu ................................................................................................................................... 48 
5.3.2  Edit Menu ................................................................................................................................... 50 
4.11.1 
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5.3.3  View Menu ................................................................................................................................. 51 
5.3.4  Emulator Status Menu ............................................................................................................... 52 
5.3.5  Window Menu ............................................................................................................................ 53 
5.3.6  Help Menu .................................................................................................................................. 53 
5.4  TOOLBAR ........................................................................................................................................... 54 
5.4.1  New ............................................................................................................................................ 54 
5.4.2  Open .......................................................................................................................................... 54 
5.4.3  Save ........................................................................................................................................... 54 
5.4.4  Copy ........................................................................................................................................... 54 
5.4.5  Edit Script with Notepad ............................................................................................................. 54 
5.4.6  Find ............................................................................................................................................ 54 
5.4.7  Find Next Warning ..................................................................................................................... 54 
5.4.8  Find Next Error ........................................................................................................................... 54 
5.4.9  Stop ............................................................................................................................................ 54 
5.4.10 
Navigate Back ........................................................................................................................ 55 
Navigate Forward .................................................................................................................. 55 
5.4.11 
5.5  CONTEXT MENU OF THE SESSION TREE ..................................................................................... 56 
5.5.1  Session node ............................................................................................................................. 56 
5.5.2  Script Session node ................................................................................................................... 56 
5.5.3  Media Session node .................................................................................................................. 56 
5.5.4  Script node ................................................................................................................................. 58 
5.5.5  Results node .............................................................................................................................. 58 
5.5.6  Emulator node ............................................................................................................................ 58 
5.6  EMULATORS ..................................................................................................................................... 59 
5.6.1  Storage SCP Emulator ............................................................................................................... 59 
5.6.2  Storage SCU Emulator .............................................................................................................. 60 
5.6.3  Print SCP Emulator .................................................................................................................... 61 
5.6.4  Emulator Transfer Syntaxes ...................................................................................................... 61 
COMMAND LINE ................................................................................................................................................. 62 
PROGRAMMING DVT ......................................................................................................................................... 64 
7.1  GENERAL ........................................................................................................................................... 64 
7.2  SEND, RECEIVE ACSE REQUESTS AND RESPONSES ................................................................ 64 
7.2.1  Associate Request ..................................................................................................................... 65 
7.2.2  Associate Accept ....................................................................................................................... 66 
7.2.3  Associate Reject ........................................................................................................................ 68 
7.2.4  Release Request ....................................................................................................................... 68 
7.2.5  Release Response ..................................................................................................................... 69 
7.2.6  Abort Request ............................................................................................................................ 69 
7.3  SEND, RECEIVE DICOM MESSAGES.............................................................................................. 70 
7.3.1  General ...................................................................................................................................... 70 
7.3.2  Send, Receive ............................................................................................................................ 71 
7.3.3  Sequence Syntax ....................................................................................................................... 74 
7.4  PATTERN GENERATION .................................................................................................................. 75 
7.4.1  OB/OF/OW Pattern Generation ................................................................................................. 75 
7.4.2  ST/LT/UT Pattern Generation .................................................................................................... 76 
7.5  USING LABELS - VALUE MAPPING ................................................................................................. 76 
7.6  VR KEYWORDS ................................................................................................................................. 77 
7.7  EXTENDED CHARACTER SETS ...................................................................................................... 78 
7.8  ABSTRACT STORAGE SERVICE ..................................................................................................... 78 
7.9  ABSTRACT PRINT SERVICE ............................................................................................................ 79 
7.10  PRIVATE ATTRIBUTES ..................................................................................................................... 79 
7.11  IMAGE (OBJECT) RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS ................................................................................ 80 
7.12  REPLAY FEATURE ............................................................................................................................ 80 
INTERPRETING THE VALIDATION RESULTS ............................................................................................... 81 
8.1  STATUS KEYWORDS........................................................................................................................ 81 
8.1.1  PASSED ..................................................................................................................................... 81 
8.1.2  FAILED ....................................................................................................................................... 81 
8.1.3  ERROR ...................................................................................................................................... 81 
8.1.4  WARNING .................................................................................................................................. 81 
8.1.5 
INFO (INFORMATION) .............................................................................................................. 81 
8.1.6  DEBUG ...................................................................................................................................... 81 
8.1.7  RELATION ................................................................................................................................. 81 
6. 
7. 
8. 
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8.2  CONDITIONAL ATTRIBUTE VALIDATION OUTPUT ........................................................................ 82 
8.3  OTHER REMARKS ............................................................................................................................ 83 
9.  ADVANCED PROGRAMMING ........................................................................................................................... 84 
9.1  DATA-WAREHOUSE ......................................................................................................................... 84 
9.1.1  Create, Set and Delete .............................................................................................................. 84 
9.1.2 
Import, Export............................................................................................................................. 86 
9.1.3  Read, Write ................................................................................................................................ 87 
9.2  REUSE OF OBJECTS AND ATTRIBUTES........................................................................................ 88 
9.2.1  Compare .................................................................................................................................... 88 
9.2.2  Confirm ....................................................................................................................................... 88 
9.2.3  Copy ........................................................................................................................................... 89 
9.2.4  Delay .......................................................................................................................................... 89 
9.2.5  Display ....................................................................................................................................... 89 
9.2.6  Echo ........................................................................................................................................... 89 
9.2.7  Reset .......................................................................................................................................... 90 
9.2.8  System ....................................................................................................................................... 90 
9.2.9  Time ........................................................................................................................................... 90 
Validate .................................................................................................................................. 90 
9.2.10 
9.2.11 
Verbose ................................................................................................................................. 91 
9.3  SCRIPT EXECUTION CONTEXT ...................................................................................................... 91 
9.3.1  Add Group Length ...................................................................................................................... 91 
9.3.2  Application Entity ....................................................................................................................... 92 
9.3.3  Define Sequence Length ........................................................................................................... 92 
9.3.4  Populate ..................................................................................................................................... 92 
9.3.5  Strict Validation .......................................................................................................................... 93 
9.3.6  Validation ................................................................................................................................... 93 
10.  VISUAL BASIC SCRIPTS ..................................................................................................................................... 94 
10.1  ENTRY POINT .................................................................................................................................... 94 
10.2  .NET INTERFACE DVTK AND DVTKDATA....................................................................................... 94 
10.3  SESSION VARIABLE ......................................................................................................................... 94 
10.4  VISUAL STUDIO .NET 2005 .............................................................................................................. 95 
11.  USING SECURE SOCKETS.................................................................................................................................. 96 
11.1  OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 96 
11.2  SOME DEFINITIONS ......................................................................................................................... 96 
11.3  OVERVIEW OF TLS/SSL ................................................................................................................... 97 
11.4  FILE FORMATS .................................................................................................................................. 97 
Security Credentials File Format ........................................................................................... 97 
Trusted Certificate File Format .............................................................................................. 98 
Generated Certificate and Private Key File Formats ............................................................. 98 
11.5  SUPPORTED CIPHER SUITES ......................................................................................................... 98 
11.6  SAMPLE CERTIFICATE AND CREDENTIALS FILES ...................................................................... 98 
12.  EXAMPLES.......................................................................................................................................................... 100 
12.1  STORAGE SOP CLASS ................................................................................................................... 101 
12.2  QUERY SOP CLASS........................................................................................................................ 102 
12.3  RETRIEVE SOP CLASS .................................................................................................................. 102 
12.4  WORKLIST SOP CLASS ................................................................................................................. 103 
12.5  PERFORMED PROCEDURE STEP SOP CLASS ........................................................................... 103 
12.6  STORAGE COMMITMENT SOP CLASS ......................................................................................... 103 
12.7  STRUCTURED REPORTING SOP CLASS ..................................................................................... 104 
12.8  PRINT MANAGEMENT SOP CLASS ............................................................................................... 104 
12.9  VERIFICATION SOP CLASS ........................................................................................................... 104 
13.  APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................................... 105 
13.1  DICOMSCRIPT LANGUAGE REFERENCE .................................................................................... 105 
ADD-GROUP-LENGTH ON / OFF ...................................................................................... 105 
APPLICATION-ENTITY ....................................................................................................... 105 
COMPARE / COMPARE_NOT ............................................................................................ 106 
CONFIRM ............................................................................................................................ 106 
COPY ................................................................................................................................... 106 
CREATE .............................................................................................................................. 106 
DEFINE-SQ-LENGTH  ON / OFF ........................................................................................ 107 
DELAY ................................................................................................................................. 107 
DELETE ............................................................................................................................... 107 
13.1.1 
13.1.2 
13.1.3 
13.1.4 
13.1.5 
13.1.6 
13.1.7 
13.1.8 
13.1.9 
11.4.1 
11.4.2 
11.4.3 
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13.1.10  DISPLAY .............................................................................................................................. 107 
13.1.11  ECHO .................................................................................................................................. 107 
13.1.12  EXPORT .............................................................................................................................. 108 
13.1.13 
IMPORT ............................................................................................................................... 108 
13.1.14  POPULATE ON / OFF ......................................................................................................... 108 
13.1.15  READ ................................................................................................................................... 108 
13.1.16  RECEIVE ............................................................................................................................. 108 
13.1.17  RESET ................................................................................................................................. 108 
13.1.18  SEND ................................................................................................................................... 109 
13.1.19  SET ...................................................................................................................................... 109 
13.1.20  STRICT-VALIDATION ON / OFF ........................................................................................ 109 
13.1.21  SYSTEM .............................................................................................................................. 109 
13.1.22  TIME .................................................................................................................................... 110 
13.1.23  VALIDATE ........................................................................................................................... 110 
13.1.24  VALIDATION ....................................................................................................................... 110 
13.1.25  VERBOSE ON / OFF ........................................................................................................... 110 
13.1.26  WRITE ................................................................................................................................. 110 
13.2  DEFINITION FILE FORMAT REFERENCE ..................................................................................... 111 
13.3  ADVT COMPATIBILITY NOTES ...................................................................................................... 115 
ADVT Emulator Sessions .................................................................................................... 115 
ADVT Definitions ................................................................................................................. 115 
Backslash Handling ............................................................................................................. 115 
13.4  THIRD PARTY COPYRIGHT NOTICES .......................................................................................... 116 
UC Davis DICOM Library .................................................................................................... 116 
OpenSSL ............................................................................................................................. 116 
13.3.1 
13.3.2 
13.3.3 
13.4.1 
13.4.2 
 
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DVT User Guide 
Version 2.4 
 
Update list 
 
Version 
2.1 
2.2 
2.4 
Date 
June 03, 2005  
Feb 06, 2009 
Apr 06, 2009 
Description 
Updated document to conform to DVT V 2.1 software release. 
Updated document to conform to DVT V 2.4 software release. 
Updated document to conform to DVT V 2.4 software release. 
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DVT User Guide 
Version 2.4 
1. License Agreement 
The User is referred to the web site www.dvtk.org for details of the DVTk license agreement. 
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DVT User Guide 
Version 2.4 
2. Introduction 
2.1  General 
DICOM  is  increasingly  being  used  as  the  standard  communication  mechanism  when  integrating  various  medical 
products  in  a  hospital  environment.  The  medical  products  involved  include  Modalities  (CT,  MR,  X-Ray,  etc.), 
Workstations, Archives, Printers and HIS/RIS devices. 
The  intention  of  DICOM  is  to  define  the  communication  capabilities  of  each  product  type  to  a  degree  that  allows 
products,  supplied  by  different  vendors,  to  be  connected  together  to  form  an  open,  integrated  diagnostic  /  treatment 
capability. 
A need, therefore, exists to ensure that a product conforms to the DICOM standard in a way appropriate to its function. 
The DICOM Validation Tool (DVT) is a software utility that will assist in testing DICOM conformance. 
This document is the User Guide for the DICOM Validation Tool. 
It is assumed that the reader has a basic understanding of the DICOM standard [1]. 
Throughout this document the product being validated by DVT is known as the “System under Test” or SUT. 
2.2  Features 
DVT is used to provide an independent measurement of the accuracy of a Systems DICOM Interface, according to both 
the DICOM Standard and the SUT’s Conformance Statement. 
DVT can be used as either SCU or SCP with a direct connection to the SUT (via TCP/IP). DVT acts as an emulator for 
the DICOM Service classes being tested. DVT can also create and validate DICOM media files. 
 
 
 
DICOM Validation  
          Tool 
DICOM Script 
GUI 
Definitions 
Test 
Scenarios 
DICOM 
Engine 
System 
Under Test 
Figure 2-1: Test Tool Structure 
DICOM 
Interface 
The accuracy is measured in terms of syntax and semantic correctness. Complete inter-operability testing falls outside 
of the capabilities of such a validation tool. 
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