A couple of questions. First, the notes for release 0.10.7 say the
developers guide has been updated. The one I find on the wiki (Miscellaneous
-> Development) says it's for v0.10.6, so I don't know if that's the latest
one or not. And I don't find one at all in the intallation from the Windows
installer. Is the wiki the latest one, or do I have to get a source release
to get the latest; and if I have to use a source release, is there a way to
just create the .pdf (and not build all the binaries)?
Second, this has probably been discussed before, but is there any
consideration being given to Ethereal as a platform versus primarily as an
application? I'd like to be able to use the functionality within Ethereal
for the various packet manipulation stuff I have to do from time to time.
The general types of things I have to do are of the form: open a capture
file; apply a filter; iterate through the packets; apply a certain level of
dissection (e.g. just up to the TCP layer); access the packets at the
different dissection layers; perhaps modify some fields within the various
layers and correct checksums; and write the packets out, possibly in another
file format.
I know that right now I could look at the sources in some of the
command-line utilities to try and guide me in creating what I need. In the
past, I've tried going down that route. However, the utilities themselves
seem under-documented let alone getting a better understanding of how to
access Ethereal in a library-type fashion via an API.
My vision of a "perfect world" on this front would be Python bindings to a
formalized, supported, and documented "Ethereal API Library". Absent the
Python bindings, doing it from c/c++ is ok, too, but Ethereal as a library
needs to be more accessible for those of us who don't have weeks of ramp-up
time available to invest.
What are your thoughts on this? How feasible is this in the near-term? Can
this be added to the wishlist?
Many thanks,
Donnie
