Ethereal-dev: Re: [Ethereal-dev] RFQ - Print as HTML

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From: "Olivier Biot" <ethereal@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 19:18:43 +0100
Hi Fulvio,

I downloaded Analyzer this afternoon and have been playing a while with it.
I now see what you mean with HTML output: Analyzer regenerates the entire
GUI in HTML with I think some scripting magic. I was more thinking at a flat
printed-out representation of the data, like what we generate today in PDML
format.

The work in Analyzer looks much like what has been done in the so-called
"hethereal"; see for example
http://www.ethereal.com/lists/ethereal-dev/200104/msg00201.html.

Ulf was referring to applying an XSLT to translate PDML into XHTML I think.

Regards,

Olivier
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fulvio Risso"


Hi.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Biot Olivier
>
> | From: Ulf Lamping
> |
> | Fulvio Risso wrote:
> |
> | >Hi Olivier.
> | >
> | >It seems to me that you're going to rewrite Analyzer ;-))
> | >
> | >Analyzer is able to export files in HTML.
> | >It saves the PDML and it adds, in the same folder, a couple
> | of other files
> | >(XML style sheet, CSS) so that everything is displayed as
> | HTML in a normal
> | >browser (ehm... Internet Explorer only, so far).
> | >
> | >
> | I wouldn't call IE a normal browser, especially if you are
> | talking to an audience of mixed windows/unix users.
>
> As long as you stick with as-standard-as-possible output,
> I don't see a problem here.
>
> | Do XSL stuff with the current Mozilla/Netscape versions
> | shouldn't be too hard, if you code your things for it.

I would like to point out that I'm not an XML/XSL expert.
The code that allows visualization of PDML files in HTML has been done by a
couple of our students.
However, the problem is that you have several packets within the PDML file,
and you have to display one at once.
For that, you have to use some feature (i.e. selecting the current packet)
that are proprietary (in this case "Microsoft data island"). I cannot say
that for sure; this is what my students told me. And this is how Analyzer
works.
I'll be very happy to make it running on other platforms, since I'm using
Mozilla Firebird for web surfing.
However, I don't know how to do that.


> That's the only way to do this, I think. If you want to save
> to HTML, you'll have to select *an* HTML format (including
> the layout, preferably with a cascading style sheet).
>
> | I have done some experiments with the IE and the Mozilla
> | XSL(T) engine for a different project, and it worked ok for me.
> |
> | But every browser has it's edges, as we all now ;-) and IE
> | has lot's of them :-(
> |
> | >To do that properly you should add support for PSML files,
> | i.e. a file that
> | >keeps the *summary* of the capture (basically, what Ethereal
> | displays in the
> | >window that lists all the packets in the capture).
> | >
> | >It may be an excellent idea to share the efforts to print
> | packets in HTML between Analyzer and Ethereal.
>
> This sounds fun!