[Guy Harris <guy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, Nov 08, 2003 at 11:27:43AM -0800, Chris Weber wrote:
> Yes! I mean IP Encapsulating Security Payload from RFC 2406.  Since it
> encapsulates the TCP header information, Ethereal cannot follow the TCP
> stream.  However, since ESP has it's own system of sequence numbers, I was
> wondering if someone wrote a plugin to follow that stream

Currently, the only way a plugin can extend Ethereal's capabilities is
to

	1) add the ability to dissect additional protocols

and

	2) perhaps extend its ability when dissecting a protocol that it
	   already handles *if* the plugins are "attached" after the
	   built-in dissectors are

as the only types of plugins currently supported by Ethereal are
dissectors.  (I'm somewhat tempted to call them something other than
"plugins", at this point, so people don't confuse them with the
much-more-general plugins supported by some other applications, and
incorrectly think they can do much in the way of extending Ethereal with
them.)

Currently, there is a mechanism that *might* be able to support
stream-following - the tap mechanism - but currently there's no support
for plugin taps.  That will probably happen at some point, but we don't
have a schedule for adding that capability (nor for adding any other
capabilities to Ethereal - we don't do schedules and roadmaps, and I
don't expect us to do so any time soon).