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Chapter 6. Working with captured
packets
6.1. Viewing packets you have captured
Once you have captured some packets, or you have opened a previously saved capture file, you can
view the packets that are displayed in the packet list pane by simply clicking on a packet in the
packet list pane, which will bring up the selected packet in the tree view and byte view panes.
You can then expand any part of the tree view by clicking on the plus sign (the symbol itself may
vary) to the left of that part of the payload, and you can select individual fields by clicking on them
in the tree view pane. An example with a TCP packet selected is shown in Figure 6.1, “Ethereal with
a TCP packet selected for viewing”. It also has the Acknowledgment number in the TCP header se-
lected, which shows up in the byte view as the selected bytes.
Figure 6.1. Ethereal with a TCP packet selected for viewing
You can also select and view packets the same way, while Ethereal is capturing, if you selected "Up-
date list of packets in real time" in the Ethereal Capture Preferences dialog box.
In addition, you can view individual packets in a separate window as shown in Figure 6.2, “Viewing
a packet in a separate window”. Do this by selecting the packet you are interested in the packet list
pane, and then select "Show Packet in New Windows" from the Display menu. This allows you to
easily compare two or even more packets.
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