GetParentKey Method

Summary

Returns the item in the Dicom Dir Data Set that contains the parent of the specified item.

Syntax

Objective-C

C++/CLI

Java

public DicomElement GetParentKey( 
   DicomElement element 
)

- (nullable LTDicomElement *)parentKey:(LTDicomElement *)element;

public DicomElement getParentKey(DicomElement element)

public: 
DicomElement^ GetParentKey(  
   DicomElement^ element 
)

Parameters

element
An item in the Data Set.

Return Value

The item in the Data Set that is the parent of the item specified by element, or a null reference (Nothing in VB) if element has no parent (element is a Level 0 item).

Remarks

The parent is the ancestor one level higher than the specified item. If the specified item is a Level 0 item, this method will return a null reference (Nothing in VB). Please note that the numbering of the items in the following illustration is arbitrary and does not imply order.

If the passed object points to:	The method returns an object pointing to:
Item 1	null
Item 2	Item 3
Item 4	Item 3
Item 5	Item 6

The following methods will also help you navigate the Data Set:

Example

using Leadtools; 
using Leadtools.Dicom; 
 
 
public void DicomDIRSample() 
{ 
   //Make sure to initialize the DICOM engine, this needs to be done only once  
   DicomEngine.Startup(); 
   using (DicomDataSet dicomDIR = new DicomDataSet()) 
   { 
      dicomDIR.Reset(); 
      //Initialize the dataset as a DICOMDIR class 
      dicomDIR.Initialize(DicomClassType.BasicDirectory, DicomDataSetInitializeType.ExplicitVRLittleEndian); 
      Debug.Assert(dicomDIR.InformationClass == DicomClassType.BasicDirectory); 
      Debug.Assert(dicomDIR.InformationFlags == (DicomDataSetFlags.ExplicitVR | DicomDataSetFlags.LittleEndian | DicomDataSetFlags.MetaHeaderPresent)); 
      //Insert a patient level key 
      DicomElement patientKey = dicomDIR.InsertKey(null, DicomDirKeyType.Patient, true); 
      //Insert a study key under the patient key 
      DicomElement studyKey = dicomDIR.InsertKey(patientKey, DicomDirKeyType.Study, true); 
      //Now insert three series keys under the study key 
      DicomElement seriesKey = dicomDIR.InsertKey(studyKey, DicomDirKeyType.Series, true); 
      seriesKey = dicomDIR.InsertKey(studyKey, DicomDirKeyType.Series, true); 
      seriesKey = dicomDIR.InsertKey(studyKey, DicomDirKeyType.Series, true); 
      DicomElement key = dicomDIR.GetRootKey(seriesKey); 
      //Get the key value, You can also call GetKeyValuePtr 
      DicomDirKeyType keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      //The root key for the series key should be patient 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Patient, "The root key for the series key should be patient in this case"); 
      //Get the parent key for the series, it should be study 
      key = dicomDIR.GetParentKey(seriesKey); 
      keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Study, "The parent key for the series key should be study in this case"); 
      //The child for the study key should be series 
      key = dicomDIR.GetChildKey(studyKey); 
      keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Series, "The child for the study key should be series"); 
      //The first key should be patient, if we traverse the DICOMDIR as a list 
      key = dicomDIR.GetFirstKey(studyKey, false); 
      keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Patient); 
      //The last key should be series, if we traverse the DICOMDIR as a list 
      key = dicomDIR.GetLastKey(studyKey, false); 
      keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Series); 
      //The key before the study key should be patient, if we traverse the DICOMDIR as a list 
      key = dicomDIR.GetPreviousKey(studyKey, false); 
      keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Patient); 
      //The key after the study key should be series, if we traverse the DICOMDIR as a list 
      key = dicomDIR.GetNextKey(studyKey, false); 
      keyValue = dicomDIR.GetKeyValue(key); 
      Debug.Assert(keyValue == DicomDirKeyType.Series); 
      //If we delete the study key, the series keys under it will get deleted too 
      dicomDIR.DeleteKey(studyKey); 
      key = dicomDIR.FindFirstKey(null, DicomDirKeyType.Series, false); 
      Debug.Assert(key == null); 
      key = dicomDIR.FindLastKey(null, DicomDirKeyType.Series, false); 
      Debug.Assert(key == null); 
      key = dicomDIR.FindPreviousKey(null, false); 
      Debug.Assert(key == null); 
      key = dicomDIR.FindNextKey(null, false); 
      Debug.Assert(key == null); 
   } 
   DicomEngine.Shutdown(); 
}