FindFirstKey(DicomElement,string,bool) Method

Summary

Returns the first item in the Dicom Dir Data Set with the specified key element type.

Syntax

C++

Java

public DicomElement FindFirstKey( 
   DicomElement element, 
   string key, 
   bool tree 
)

Public Overloads Function FindFirstKey( _ 
   ByVal element As DicomElement, _ 
   ByVal key As String, _ 
   ByVal tree As Boolean _ 
) As DicomElement

public DicomElement findFirstKey(DicomElement element, String key, boolean tree)

public: 
DicomElement^ FindFirstKey(  
   DicomElement^ element, 
   String^ key, 
   bool tree 
)

Parameters

element
An item in the Data Set.

key
The type of key element to find.

tree
true to evaluate the Data Set as a tree; false to evaluate the Data Set as a list.

Return Value

The first item in the Data Set with the specified key element type, or a null reference (Nothing in VB) if an item with the specified key element type was not found.

Remarks

For the sake of the following illustrations, the order of siblings is top to bottom. Therefore first is evaluated top to bottom. If the Data Set is evaluated as a tree structure, this method returns the first item on the same level as element with the same parent as element, that has key element type key.

Please note that the numbering of the items of interest in this first illustration is arbitrary and does not imply order.

If the passed object points to:	The method returns an object pointing to:
Item 1	The first sibling (same level, same parent) of Item 1 that has the key element type key, if such an item exists. If such an item does not exist, the method returns null.
Item 2	The first sibling (same level, same parent) of Item 2 that has the key element type key, if such an item exists. If such an item does not exist, the method returns null.
Item 3	The first sibling (same level, same parent) of Item 3 that has the key element type key, if such an item exists. If such an item does not exist, the method returns null.

If the Data Set is evaluated as a list, this method returns the first item in the entire list that has key element type key. The search begins at the top of the list.

Please note that the numbering of the items in the following illustration does indicate the order of the items when the Data Set is evaluated as a list.

If the passed object points to:	The method returns an object pointing to:
Item 1	The first item in the list that has key element type key, if such an item exists. Searching begins at the top of the list. If an item with key element type key is not found, null is returned.
Item 14	The first item in the list that has key element type key, if such an item exists. Searching begins at the top of the list. If an item with key element type key is not found, null is returned.
Item 22	The first item in the list that has key element type key, if such an item exists. Searching begins at the top of the list. If an item with key element type key is not found, null is returned.