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Actions ​

Actions are the fundamental processing units in DICOM Printer 2. Each action performs a specific operation on a print job or DICOM file as it moves through the workflow.

What Are Actions? ​

Actions define the processing steps applied to each job. Common action types include:

  • Querying DICOM servers for patient data
  • Storing DICOM files to remote PACS systems
  • Printing to DICOM film printers
  • Manipulating DICOM tags
  • Saving files to local directories
  • Transforming images

Actions are defined in the <Actions> section of the configuration file and referenced by name in the <Workflow> section.

Action Types ​

DICOM Printer 2 supports the following action types:

Communication Actions ​

  • Query - Query DICOM worklists or studies for patient data and metadata
  • ManualQuery - Parks jobs in queue/manual/ for manual worklist matching via the Queue Dashboard
  • Store - Send DICOM objects to remote PACS or storage systems using C-STORE
  • Print - Send images to DICOM film printers using DICOM Basic Grayscale Print

Data Manipulation Actions ​

  • Parse - Extract data from filenames or text files using regular expressions
  • SetTag - Add, modify, or delete DICOM tags and attributes
  • Save - Save DICOM files to local directories with custom naming

Image Processing Actions ​

Integration Actions ​

  • Run (Plugins) - Execute external console or GUI applications as part of the workflow
  • Notify - Send notifications to external systems

Other Actions ​

  • PrefixDemo - Prefixes "[DEMO] " to Series Description and Study Description tags. Used for evaluation/demo licensing mode. No configuration required.

Common Action Attributes ​

All actions support this common attribute:

name (Required) ​

The unique identifier for the action. This name is used to reference the action in workflow nodes.

xml
<Query name="FindPatient" ...>
<Store name="SendToPACS" ...>
<SetTag name="AddMetadata">

Error Handling (Workflow Level) ​

Error handling is configured on <Perform> workflow nodes, not on action definitions. This allows the same action to be reused with different error handling strategies in different parts of the workflow.

onError Attribute (Optional, Perform node only) ​

Specifies the action to take when the performed action fails.

Type: Enum Valid Values: Hold, Suspend, Ignore, DiscardDefault: Hold

xml
<Workflow>
  <Perform action="SendToPACS" onError="Hold"/>
  <Perform action="SendAlert" onError="Ignore"/>
</Workflow>

Error Handling Modes:

Hold ​

  • The job file remains on disk and workflow processing stops immediately
  • The job is not automatically retried. It will only be re-processed if the service is restarted or if the file is manually "touched" (to update its creation time)
  • Use for failures that require manual intervention or environment fixes before retrying
xml
<Perform action="SendToPACS" onError="Hold"/>

Suspend ​

  • The job is kept in memory and workflow processing stops at the failing action
  • The job is automatically retried after SuspensionTime minutes (configured in the General section), resuming exactly from the action that failed
  • Use for transient failures (e.g., temporary network glitches) where an automatic retry is appropriate
xml
<Perform action="FindPatient" onError="Suspend"/>

Ignore ​

  • The failure is logged but processing continues to the next workflow step
  • Use for non-critical optional operations
xml
<Perform action="SendAlert" onError="Ignore"/>

Discard ​

  • The job is immediately removed from the queue with no retry
  • Use when a failure is unrecoverable
xml
<Perform action="ExtractData" onError="Discard"/>

Action Configuration ​

Actions are defined in the <Actions> section of config.xml:

xml
<DicomPrinter>
  <Actions>
    <Query name="FindPatient" type="Worklist" ...>
      <!-- Query configuration -->
    </Query>

    <Store name="SendToPACS" ...>
      <!-- Store configuration -->
    </Store>

    <SetTag name="AddMetadata">
      <!-- SetTag configuration -->
    </SetTag>
  </Actions>
</DicomPrinter>

Using Actions in Workflows ​

Actions are executed through workflow nodes, primarily using the <Perform> node:

xml
<Workflow>
  <Perform action="FindPatient"/>
  <If field="QUERY_FOUND" value="true">
    <Perform action="AddMetadata"/>
    <Perform action="SendToPACS"/>
  </If>
</Workflow>

See Workflow Reference for complete workflow documentation.

Action Execution Order ​

Actions are executed in the order specified in the workflow, not the order they appear in the <Actions> section.

The <Actions> section is a declaration area where all available actions are defined. The <Workflow> section determines the execution order and conditional logic.

Example Configuration ​

Complete example showing multiple actions:

xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE DicomPrinter SYSTEM "config.dtd">
<DicomPrinter>
  <Actions>
    <!-- Query worklist for patient data -->
    <Query name="FindPatient" type="Worklist">
      <ConnectionParameters>
        <PeerAETitle>RIS</PeerAETitle>
        <MyAETitle>PRINTER</MyAETitle>
        <Host>192.168.1.200</Host>
        <Port>104</Port>
      </ConnectionParameters>
      <DcmTag tag="(0010,0020)">#{PatientID}</DcmTag>
    </Query>

    <!-- Set metadata tags -->
    <SetTag name="SetStudyDate" tag="(0008,0020)">#{Date}</SetTag>
    <SetTag name="SetInstitution" tag="(0008,0080)">Medical Center</SetTag>

    <!-- Send to PACS -->
    <Store name="SendToPACS">
      <ConnectionParameters>
        <PeerAETitle>PACS</PeerAETitle>
        <MyAETitle>PRINTER</MyAETitle>
        <Host>192.168.1.100</Host>
        <Port>104</Port>
      </ConnectionParameters>
    </Store>
  </Actions>

  <Workflow>
    <Perform action="FindPatient" onError="Hold"/>
    <If field="QUERY_FOUND" value="true">
      <Perform action="SetStudyDate"/>
      <Perform action="SetInstitution"/>
      <Perform action="SendToPACS" onError="Hold"/>
    </If>
  </Workflow>
</DicomPrinter>