Automating Data Transfer using Forwarding

There are many circumstances in which received data should be forwarded to another slicebox instance, a PACS system or similar. Here are a few examples

• when transferring data between two hospitals (both running private slicebox instances) and using common public slicebox instance as mediator (see Howto: Connecting Two Private Instances using a Public Mediator)
• when a hospital receives an image from a collaborator that should be automatically forwared to the PACS system
• when setting up a filesystem directory watch where DICOM files can be dropped and automatically sent to a collaborator
• when connecting an application to slicebox, result files created by a particular user should be automatically forwarded to another slicebox instance or to a PACS system

The list of possible sources is

• Import - an import session where a user has imported DICOM files
• User - directly adding an image using the programming API
• Box - another slicebox instance
• Directory - data added to a file system directory monitored by slicebox
• SCP - data sent from a PACS system or a similar DICOM node

The list of possible destinations is

• Box - another slicebox instance
• SCU - a channel for sending data to a PACS system or a similar DICOM node

In the Forwarding view rules for automatic forwarding between any source to any destination can be managed. The following image shows how a rule for a hosptial installation of slicebox can be set up. The rule specifies that images arriving from the local PACS system should be automatically forwarded to the collaborator named Springfield Technical University. Further, the rule specifies that images should not be deleted after forwarding.

An arbitrary number of rules can be set up and rules can be deleted using the list menu.