Ethereal-dev: Re: [Ethereal-dev] Filling of columns

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From: aferen@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Andrew C. Feren)
Date: 30 Oct 2001 16:05:53 -0500
Guy Harris <guy@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> > > Which columns?
> > 
> > 	Source and Destination.
> 
> Then what you really want to set are, I suspect, the source and
> destination addresses referred to by the "packet_info" structure.

I did think about doing this, but I didn't like the idea of changing
information in packet_info for a side effect.  fill_in_columns may
always be called after all disectors, but it might not.  If that ever
changed I would be left with a subtle (and potentially hard to find)
bug.

Additionally I might also want to display the real source and
destinatin along with the virtual source and destination.  I don't
think I can get this flexibility if I change the packet_info
structure.  (I wasn't real clear in my initial email sorry about
that.)

> What do you want to set them to?  

A unique identifier.  This is explained in more detail in my other
message.  The short answer is that I like would automatically
associate a name with a port number.  I can do this based on
information in the protocol.  If I don't have the protocol message
that allows me to make the association then I would like to display
the port number. 

> Does your dissector call any other dissector (which might want to
> access those addresses as well)?

Not at this time.  For now at least, I don't forsee a need to have a
subdissector in the future.


-- 
-Andrew Feren
 Cetacean Networks, Inc.
 Portsmouth, NH