Ethereal-dev: Re: [ethereal-dev] Adding new protocols

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From: Guy Harris <gharris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 09:47:32 -0700
On Mon, Jul 17, 2000 at 08:47:58AM -0500, David Frascone wrote:
> The only problem with the preferences is that you have to not only register your
> own dissector, but the offending disector as well.

"Register" in what sense?   Register a preference for the dissector?

If the XXX protocol runs atop UDP, UDP doesn't have to register a
preference - only the XXX protocol has to register "xxx.ports", or, if
it runs atop TCP and UDP, perhaps "xxx.tcp_ports" and "xxx.udp_ports".

Or by "register" are you referring to, in the case of the lower-level
protocol, registering a dissector table and, in the case of the
upper-level protocol, registering an entry in the dissector table?

> What about having a preferences tab for dissectors in general?

That would be useful only for preferences that apply to all dissectors
in the exact same way - which is exactly what a "ports" preference would
*not*; not all "ports" are of the same type ("ports" are just
32-bit-or-less numbers in one layer of protocol that specify which
protocol is in the next layer; Ethereal currently has "port" numbers for
handoffs that aren't TCP or UDP port numbers), and having two protocols
use the *same* UDP port numbers, for example, wouldn't make any sense.

> A way to change a dissector even after it has registered?

"Change" in what sense?