Authors of this application have been [Tom Poindexter], [Keith Vetter], and [Don Libes]. sockspy [ftp://ftp.procplace.com/pub/tcl/sorted/net/sockspy-1.0] "watch[[es]] the conversation of a Tcp client and server", according to its quite readable README [ftp://ftp.procplace.com/pub/tcl/sorted/net/sockspy-1.0/1.0/sockspy-1.0.README]. Although "not a replacement for heavy duty tools such as 'tcpdump' and other passive packet sniffers" (Ethereal [http://www.ethereal.com/], ...), it's easy to install, configure, and launch, and pleasingly convenient for "debugging Tcp client/server programs, examining protocols and diagnosing network problems". sockspy is nearly indispensable for any network programmer or network administrator, quite apart from any interest they might have in Tcl. [[Compare to tcpdump, ...]] ---- Version 2.0 of sockspy is available on sourceforge at [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=45380&release_id=132854]. [http://sockspy.sourceforge.net/sockspy.html] documents sockspy. Among the new features are: * reorganized GUI to use one pane and different colors to indicate client, server and meta data * can be run as a command-line (tcl not tk) application. Before 2.0, sockspy was inherently Tk * you can stop, start and change the socket forwarding configuration from within the application Keith has also updated [http://sockspy.sourceforge.net/sockspy.html] Tom's version 1.0 tutorial. [[Nice work, Keith!]] ---- [Keith Vetter] 2003-01-09 - Version 2.4 is available on SourceForge here [http://sourceforge.net/projects/sockspy/]. To go straight to the download page, click here [http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/sockspy/sockspy.zip?download]. Some release notes are avalable at [http://users.clover.net/keithv/sockspy.html]. [[NB. I had the wrong URL for the download so you may have gotten v2.0 instead of v2.4]] Among the new features are: * [HTTP] [proxy]ing--sockspy can use the first line of an HTTP request to determine who to forward to * an EXTRACT window, where data from the client and server streams matching user-supplied regular expressions are displayed. I use this to more easily see the URL a client is requesting and the status of the server's reply. ---- [Keith Vetter] 2003-03-03 - Version 2.5 is available on SourceForge here [http://sourceforge.net/projects/sockspy/]. This release comes courtesy of [Don Libes] who did the work. New features include: * timestamps * configuration file (and auto saving to it) * cmdline display ---- [JMN] 2003-07-01 Sometimes it's handy to be able to point an HTTP user-agent at sockspy without having to configure the sockspy address as the user-agent's proxy. The problem with 'fixed server forwarding' as it stands is that, not being specifically for HTTP, it doesn't allow you to connect to the correct virtual server on a webserver that relies on the HTTP Host header to direct requests. Fixed server forwarding is fine as it is however, for viewing many other protocols such as SMTP, POP3 or whatever. What's needed IMO is another option specifically for HTTP that either adds a Host header, or rewrites the existing one. Assuming this would be straightforward - I leapt in and started coding. Unfortunately, to do this robustly, sockspy needs to now have a proper concept of the parts of an HTTP request so that for example it doesn't rewrite a line in the body that coincidentally looks like an HTTP Host header line. Having a concept of HTTP requests means sockspy has to look for headers such as 'Content-Length' to determine if there is a body and how big it is.. assuming it's not using chunked encoding. I've managed to massage an experimental version into shape, that I find useful, but it's a bit unpolished and doesn't yet handle the chunked encoding of a request body. If anyone is interested in this addition, or if it's something that should be added to the project, email me at julian@precisium.com.au ---- [Sebastian Wangnick] has an interesting complement to sockspy he calls [ipc]. [[Also explain relations to sniffers--tcpdump, ethereal, ..., and [pktsrc] ]] [[Also [moni].]] ---- [CL] plans a couple of articles in 2002-2003 on sockspy applications. [[Will December 2002 *Sys Ad* magazine [http://www.samag.com/articles/2002/] content be on-line?]] [[Try [http://www.samag.com/articles/2002/0212/] (the image wasn't linked properly)]] ---- [Category Application]