External Applications

Set up a tool to activate an external application such as an alternate viewer. When an application is configured, the activation tool appears on the worklist toolbar.

To configure an external application:

Go to the Admin/Server Settings tab
Select External Applications
Select the method used to invoke the application. Options include: URL, XML Drop
Enter the required parameters.
Save the settings.

The system supports up to three external application tools. For each configured external application, the external application icon, , will appear in the worklist toolbar. When the toolbar button is clicked, the system issues the configured command to invoke the associated application.

Launching via URL

The required parameters for issuing a URL to invoke an external application are are follows:

Setting	Default	Description
Application Type	URL	Specifies the method used to launch the application. Options include None, URL and XML Drop. None disables the tool. URL issues the defined URL to the configured server.
Application Name		When Application Type is URL, this field defined the application label used in the tool tips to identify the application.
Application URL		Available when Application Type is URL. Defines the URL issues to launch the external application. See the Application URL encoding rules section below for inserting macros and other details into the URL.
Application Launch In	New Window	Available when Application Type is URL. Indicates which browser window to use. Options include New Window, New Tab and Same Tab.
Multiple Studies	Disable	When enabled, the external application tool is available when multiple studies are selected on the worklist.

For each configured application, a tool appears on the worklist toolbar represented by the Open icon, . The number on the tool graphic corresponds to the external application configuration instance.

Application URL encoding rules

The encoding rules for the Application URL are as follows:

The backslash character is used as an escape character to prevent the recognition of special characters.
Field macros:
- $$COLID$$ : Unformatted value of the field identified by the given COLID.
- $$COLID)) : Formatted value of the field identified by the given COLID using the system's default format.
- ${TAG} : Unformatted value of the field identified by the given DICOM tag.
- $(TAG) : Formatted value of the field identified by the given DICOM tag using the system's default format.
- [<macro>]: Comma-separated values when the field macros results in multiple values. For example, [$$MODY$$] for a study containing both CT and PT series will result in "CT, PT".
Special macros:
- $applicationName: Name of the application that created the file, that is, "eRAD PACS Server".
- $uniqueid: A generated, universally unique ID.

For macros using COLID values, the available fields include the following:

Study table fields and any other fields that can be displayed on a worklist.
Session table fields for the current session.
Access table fields for the current user, with the exception of sensitive fields UPWD and UCOD.
Groups/AGroups field for the current user’s primary group.

Launching via XML File Drop

The required parameters for dropping an XML file to invoke an external application are are follows:

Setting	Default	Description
Application Type	XML Drop	Specifies the method used to launch the application. Options include None, URL and XML Drop. None disables the tool. URL issues the defined URL to the configured server. XML Drop will place an XML file in the specified location that the application will need to remove after it opens it.
Application Name		When Application Type is XML Drop, this field offers a menu of configured file drop templates used to create the file written to the local workstation. The external application configuration files are not accessible from the graphical user interface. For assistance creating file drop templates, contact customer support.
Multiple Studies	Disable	When enabled, the external application tool is available when multiple studies are selected on the worklist.

When the command is issued fromt the worklist toolbar, the XML file is constructed as defined by the selected configuration files and copied to the configured folder on the user's workstation. For tracability, each invocation is logged in the system log files.