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LDicomDS::FindNextDescendant

#include "Ltdic.h"

pDICOMELEMENT LDicomDS::FindNextDescendant(pParent, pElement, bNextLevelOnly)

Returns a pointer to the next descendant of pParent having the specified tag.

Parameters

pDICOMELEMENT pParent

Pointer to a parent DICOMELEMENT structure within the Data Set.

pDICOMELEMENT pElement

Pointer to a child DICOMELEMENT structure of pParent.

L_BOOL bNextLevelOnly

Flag that indicates how the Data Set will be evaluated. Possible values are:

Value	Meaning
TRUE	Search for items in the next level only.
FALSE	Search for items recursively in all the next levels.

Returns

Value	Meaning
!NULL	A pointer to a DICOMELEMENT structure that contains the first item in the Data Set with the specified tag.
NULL	An item with the specified tag was not found.

Comments

NOTE: This function does not specify a tag to use when searching. However the tag that was used in the last call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant is used by default when searching.

This function finds the next descendant of the pElement that has a DICOM tag equivalent to the nTag argument (LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant), where the entire search is rooted at the Parent element (i.e. pParent).

The diagram below represents DICOM elements stored in a DICOM dataset.

Behavior when bNextLevelOnly is TRUE:

Returns the next element on the next level of pParent that has tag equivalent to the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant. Elements included in the search include child elements in the next level only, starting with the element pointed to by pElement.

Example 1

bNextLevelOnly TRUE

pParent points to element 1

pElement points to element 8

Searches elements 11, 12 and returns the first element that matches the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant.

Example 2

bNextLevelOnly TRUE

pParent points to element 2

pElement points to element 3

Searches elements 4, 7 and returns the first element that matches the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant.

Example 3

bNextLevelOnly TRUE

pParent pointing to element 4

pElement points to element 5

Searches element 6 only, and returns element 6 if it has a tag equivalent to the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant.

Example 4

bNextLevelOnly TRUE

pParent pointing to element 1

pElement points to element 12

Returns NULL.

Behavior when bNextLevelOnly is FALSE:

Returns the next item that has tag equivalent to the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant, using a pre-order search algorithm rooted at pParent.

Example 5

bNextLevelOnly FALSE

pParent pointing to element 1

pElement points to element 4

Searches elements 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and returns the first element that matches the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant.

Example 6

bNextLevelOnly FALSE

pParent pointing to element 2

pElement points to element 4

Searches elements 5, 6, 7 and returns the first element that matches the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant.

Example 7

bNextLevelOnly FALSE

pParent pointing to element 4

pElement points to element 5

Searches element 6 only, and returns element 6 if it has a tag equivalent to the nTag argument used in the previous call to LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant.

The following functions can also help you find elements in the Data Set with a specific tag:

LDicomDS::FindFirstDescendant

LDicomDS::FindFirstElement

LDicomDS::FindLastElement

LDicomDS::FindPrevElement

LDicomDS::FindNextElement

The following functions will help you find specific modules in the Data Set:

LDicomDS::FindModule

LDicomDS::FindIndexModule

Required DLLs and Libraries