I'm using the StorageScu class to send DICOM images. Unfortunately I've (many) DICOM files that are NOT in part 10 format, and it seems like StorageScu will (only?) send DICOM part 10 files.

I can still open the DICOM files using "dicomFile.Load(DicomReadOptions.Default)" and process it as normal, but opening it with DicomReadOptions.DoNotStorePixelDataInDataSet will throw an exception as it is not DICOM part 10 format file.

How can I force the StorageScu to send non part 10 files? And what is the difference in loading a file with DicomReadOptions.Default, ReadNonPart10Files, and DoNotStorePixelDataInDataSet?

Ok, I found the solution my self - but it isn't optimal!

The "non part 10 format" exception is thrown in the DicomFile class during Load if the ReadNonPart10Files flag is NOT set. When i add a file to the scu i use AddFile(string name) so the scu will create a StorageInstance which will load the dicom file with the default flags - thus not allowing non part 10 format.

So, to load non part 10 dicom files i add files to the scu using the AddStorageInstance function instead of AddFile:

// for each file to send..
DicomFile dcmFile = new DicomFile(fname);
dcmFile.Load(DicomReadOptions.ReadNonPart10Files); // force non part 10 format
scu.AddStorageInstance(new StorageInstance(dcmFile));

I assume this will force it to load ALL dicom data into memory before sending data, which is very inefficient if the contains image data!

To minimize the memory consumption I check to see if the dicom file is part 10 format and use AddFile, else AddStorageInstance

Any comments on this topic?

Have you tried different combinations of the flags, like: DicomReadOptions.Default | DicomReadOptions.ReadNonPart10Files | DicomReadOptions.StorePixelDataReferences?

You probably don't want to use DoNotStorePixelDataInDataSet, as it will never load the pixel data, and hence it will not be sent. You probably want StorePixelDataReferences.