HTTP WATCH

Why do you need an HTTP Viewer or Sniffer?
All web applications make extensive use of the HTTP protocol (or HTTPS for secure sites). Even simple web pages require the use of multiple HTTP requests to download HTML, graphics and javascript. The ability to view the HTTP interaction between the browser and web site is crucial to these areas of web development:

• Trouble shooting
• Performance tuning
• Verifying that a site is secure and does not expose sensitive information

How can HttpWatch Help?

HttpWatch integrates with Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers to show you exactly what HTTP traffic is triggered when you access a web page. If you access a site that uses secure HTTPS connections, HttpWatch automatically displays the decrypted form of the network traffic.

Conventional network monitoring tools just display low level data captured from the network. In contrast, HttpWatch has been optimized for displaying HTTP traffic and allows you to quickly see the values of headers, cookies, query strings .

HttpWatch also supports non-interactive examination of HTTP data. When log files are saved, a complete record of the HTTP traffic is saved in a compact file. You can even examine log files that your customers and suppliers have recorded using the free Basic Edition.

Why HttpWatch?

Seven reasons to use HttpWatch rather than other HTTP monitoring tools:

1. Easy to Use - start logging after just a couple of mouse clicks in Internet Explorer or Firefox. No other proxies, debuggers or network sniffers have to be configured
2. Productive - quickly see cookies, headers, POST data and query strings without having to manually decode raw HTTP packets
3. Robust - reliably log thousands of HTTP transactions for hours or days while tracking down intermittent problems
4. Accurate - HttpWatch has minimal impact on the normal interaction of the browser with a web site. No extra network hops are added, allowing you to measure real world HTTP performance
5. Flexible - HttpWatch only requires client-side installation and will work with any server side technology that renders HTML pages in Internet Explorer or Firefox. No special server-side permissions or configurations are required - ideal for use against production servers on the Internet or Intranet
6. Comprehensive - works with HTTP compression, redirection, SSL encryption & NTLM authentication. A complete automation interface provides access to recorded data and allows HttpWatch to be controlled from most popular programming languages.
7. Professional Support - updates and bug fixes are provided free of charge on our website and technical support is available by email, phone or fax.

Uses of HttpWatch:

1. Testing a web application to ensure that it is correctly issuing or setting headers that control page expiration
2. Finding out how other sites work and how they implement certain features
3. Checking the information that the browser is supplying when you visit a site
4. Verifying that a secure web site is not issuing sensitive data in cookies or headers
5. Tuning the performance of a web site by measuring download times, caching or the number of network round trips
6. Learning about how HTTP works (useful for programming and web design classes)
7. Alowing webmasters to fine tune the caching of images and other content
8. Performing regression testing on production servers to verify performance and correct behavior

What is a HAR File and what is the use of HAR??

HAR stands for HTTP Archive. 

This is a common format for recording HTTP tracing information. This file contains a variety of information, but for our purposes, it has a record of each object being loaded by a browser. Each of these objects’ timings is recorded.

The HAR file format is still an evolving standard, and the information contained within is both flexible and extensible. You should expect the HAR file to include a breakdown of timings including:

• how long it takes to fetch the DNS information
• how long each object takes to be requested
• how long it takes to connect to the server
• how long it takes to transfer from the server to the browser of each object
• whether the object is blocked or not

The data is stored as a JSON document and extracting meaning from the low level data is not always easy, but with practice, a HAR file can quickly help you identify the key performance problems with a web page, which in turn will help you efficiently target your development towards the areas that will deliver the greatest return on your efforts.