["Maynard, Chris" <Christopher.Maynard@xxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wireshark-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wireshark-dev-
> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Peter Wu
> Sent: Friday, October 21, 2016 5:48 PM
> To: Developer support list for Wireshark <wireshark-dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Wireshark-dev] Intro and lua question
> 
> On Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 01:24:52PM -0700, Jerry White wrote:
> > Hi,
> [..]
> > Advanced packet
> > <tcp header stuff>
> > <MyProto fixed length header><MyProto variable length data> <MyProto
> > fixed length header><MyProto variable length data> <MyProto fixed
> > length header><MyProto variable length data>
> >
> > This packet has three application transactions in it. The first 8
> > bytes of the MyProto header are always the same, and I can count from
> > there into the packet to parse out the fields I need. The problem is,
> > since the data section is variable length, I don't know where to look for the
> next header.
> > How do I do that in lua?
> 
> As Michael noted, if the length can be derived from the header, then you can
> use the dissect_tcp_pdus Lua function (in the C library code it is called
> tcp_dissect_pdus instead. It is documented at
> https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsdg_html_chunked/lua_module_Proto.
> html
> 
> Here is an example of using dissect_tcp_pdus, it has abirtrary numbers, but it
> should show the idea. Read mgi.dissector first, then get_mgi_length, then
> dissect_mgi for a better understanding.
> Documentations link follow, here is the code:
> 
>     function get_mgi_length(tvb, pinfo, offset)
>         -- Note: tvb(...) and tvb:range(...) both create a TvbRange,
>         -- prefer the former since it is more efficient (it saves a
>         -- method lookup)
> 
>         -- When you access a TvbRange as string, then the __tostring
>         -- method will be used which is typically not what you want.
>         -- Therefore invoke int, string, etc. for as appropriate
>         local msgid = tvb(offset, 4):uint()
> 
>         if msgid == 1234 then
>             -- Assume this field contains the length following the header
>             local datalen = tvb(offset + 4, 4):uint()
> 
>             return 19 + datalen
>         elseif msgid == 4567 then
>             -- Example that shows what to do if you need more bytes to
>             -- know the actual length: the real length is stored in four
>             -- bytes at offset 20.
> 
>             if tvb:reported_len() < offset + 20 + 4 then
>                 -- special value (supported since 2.0) that indicates
>                 -- that more bytes are needed to know PDU length
>                 return 0
>             end
> 
>             -- Length is definitely valid, so can safely read length now
>             local datalen = tvb(offset + 20, 4):uint()
>             return 19 + datalen
>         else
>             -- In other cases, assume just the fixed-length header
>             return 19
>         end
>     end
> 
>     function dissect_mgi(tvb, pinfo, tree)
>         pktinfo.cols.info:set("MSGID=")
> 
>         -- note: changed from tvb:range() to tvb()
>         local info_mgi_msg_id = tvb(9, 10)
>         -- example of using :string() to print a hex string instead of
>         -- some hexadecimal representation
>         pktinfo.cols.info:append(info_mgi_msg_id:string())
> 
>         -- etc.
>     end
> 
>     function mgi.dissector(tvb, pinfo, tree)
>         -- Assume that you need to know at least 19 bytes for retrieving
>         -- the length. Then when at least 19 bytes are available, call
>         -- get_mgi_length to find the real length. If the full data is
>         -- available, call dissect_mgi to handle it.
>         dissect_tcp_pdus(tvb, tree, 19, get_mgi_length, dissect_mgi)
>     end
> 
> The full reference manual of the Lua interface exposed by Wireshark is
> available at
> https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsdg_html_chunked/wsluarm_modules.h
> tml
> 
> The dissect_tcp_pdus function is documented in the "Global Functions"
> section at
> https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsdg_html_chunked/lua_module_Proto.
> html
> --
> Kind regards,
> Peter Wu
> https://lekensteyn.nl
> __________________________________________________________


You might also want to take a look at Hadriel Kaplan's fpm.lua example posted at https://wiki.wireshark.org/Lua/Examples.  It solves this problem without using dissect_tcp_pdus().
- Chris




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