dcmdecap(1)                       OFFIS DCMTK                      dcmdecap(1)

NAME
       dcmdecap  -  Extract  encapsulated file from DICOM encapsulated storage
       object


SYNOPSIS
       dcmdecap [options] dcmfile-in encfile-out

DESCRIPTION
       The dcmdecap utility reads a DICOM file  of  one  of  the  Encapsulated
       Storage  SOP  Classes  (dcmfile-in), extracts the embedded document and
       writes it to an output file (encfile-out). Optionally a command can  be
       executed after the creation of the output file.

PARAMETERS
       dcmfile-in   DICOM input filename ("-" for stdin)

       encfile-out  Encapsulated document 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-file
                read file format or data set (default)

         +fo  --read-file-only
                read file format only

         -f   --read-dataset
                read data set without file meta information

       input transfer syntax:

         -t=  --read-xfer-auto
                use TS recognition (default)

         -td  --read-xfer-detect
                ignore TS specified in the file meta header

         -te  --read-xfer-little
                read with explicit VR little endian TS

         -tb  --read-xfer-big
                read with explicit VR big endian TS

         -ti  --read-xfer-implicit
                read with implicit VR little endian TS

       parsing of odd-length attributes:

         +ao  --accept-odd-length
                accept odd length attributes (default)

         +ae  --assume-even-length
                assume real length is one byte larger

       handling of undefined length UN elements:

         +ui  --enable-cp246
                read undefined len UN as implicit VR (default)

         -ui  --disable-cp246
                read undefined len UN as explicit VR

       handling of defined length UN elements:

         -uc  --retain-un
                retain elements as UN (default)

         +uc  --convert-un
                convert to real VR if known

       automatic data correction:

         +dc  --enable-correction
                enable automatic data correction (default)

         -dc  --disable-correction
                disable automatic data correction

       bitstream format of deflated input:

         +bd  --bitstream-deflated
                expect deflated bitstream (default)

         +bz  --bitstream-zlib
                expect deflated zlib bitstream

   processing options
       execution options:

         -x   --exec  [c]ommand: string
                execute command c after document extraction


NOTES
       Option  --exec allows for the execution of a certain command line after
       the creation of the PDF document. The command line to  be  executed  is
       passed  to  this  option as a parameter. The specified command line may
       contain the placeholder '#f', which will  be  replaced  by  the  output
       filename  at  run  time.  The specified command line is executed in the
       foreground, i.e. dcmdecap will be blocked until the command terminates.

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.

EXIT CODES
       The  dcmdecap  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
       EXITCODE_NO_INPUT_FILES                  21
       EXITCODE_INVALID_INPUT_FILE              22

   output file errors
       EXITCODE_CANNOT_WRITE_OUTPUT_FILE        40

   processing errors
       EXITCODE_EXEC_FAILED                     91

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).

ENVIRONMENT
       The dcmdecap 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
       dcmencap(1)

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C)  2007-2025  by OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg,
       Germany.

Version 3.7.0                   Mon Dec 15 2025                    dcmdecap(1)
