Overview

The program interface consists of five tabs that allow you to view data and perform various actions with captured packets. To start capturing packets, select a network adapter from the drop-down list on the toolbar, and click on the Start Capture button or select File = > Start Capture from the menu. If network traffic passes through the selected adapter, CommView will start displaying information.

Main Menu

File

Start/Stop Capture – starts/stops capturing packets.

Suspend/Resume Packet Output – stops/resumes the real-time packet output on the 2nd tab.

Remote Monitoring Mode – shows/hide the remote monitoring toolbar.

Save Latest IP Connections As – allows you to save the contents of the Latest IP Connections tab as a HTML or a comma-delimited (CSV) report.

Save Packet Log As – allows you to save the contents of the Packets tab in different formats. Use the Logging tab for advanced saving options.

Log Viewer – opens a new Log Viewer window.

VoIP Log Viewer – opens a new VoIP Log Viewer window.

Clear Latest IP Connections – clears the Latest IP Connections table (1st tab).

Clear Packet Buffer – clears the contents of the program's buffer and the packet list (2nd tab).

Clear VoIP Data – clears the contents of the VoIP tab.

Performance Data – displays the program's performance statistics: the number of packets captured and dropped by the device driver.

Exit – closes the program.

Search

Find Packet – shows a dialog that allows you to find packets matching a specific text.

Go to Packet Number - shows a dialog that allows you to jump to a packet with the specified number.

View

Statistics – shows a window with data transfer and protocol distribution statistics.

Port Reference – shows a window with port reference information.

Log Directory – opens the directory to which logs are saved by default.

Latest IP Connections Columns – shows/hides the Latest IP Connections tab columns.

Packets Columns – shows/hides the Packets tab columns.

Tools

Packet Generator – opens the Packet Generator window.

Reconstruct TCP Session – allows you to reconstruct a TCP session starting from the selected packet; it opens a window that displays the entire conversation between two hosts.

Reconstruct UDP Stream – allows you to reconstruct a UDP stream starting from the selected packet; it opens a window that displays the entire conversation between two hosts.

NIC Vendor Identifier – opens a window where you can identify a network adapter vendor by MAC address.

Scheduler – allows you to add or remove scheduled capturing tasks.

Settings

Fonts – shows the submenu for setting the fonts of the interface elements.

MAC Aliases – brings up a window where you can assign easy-to-remember aliases to MAC addresses.

IP Aliases – brings up a window where you can assign easy-to-remember aliases to IP addresses.

Options – brings up the Options window where additional advanced program options can be set.

Language – allows you to change the interface language. Be sure to restart the program once you've changed the language. The CommView installation package may not include all available language files for the interface. Clicking on the Other Languages menu item opens the additional languages download page on our Web site where you can download your language file if it is available for the current version.

Install Dial-up Driver – installs a driver for capturing packets on dial-up adapters. This item is invisible if the driver has been installed.

Install Token Ring Driver – installs a driver for capturing packets on Token Ring adapters. This item is invisible if the driver has been installed.

Rules

Save Current Rules As – allows you to save current rules configuration to a file.

Load Rules From – allows you to load a previously saved rules configuration from a file.

Reset All – clears all existing rules (if any).

Help

Contents – launches CommView help.

Search For Help On … – shows CommView help index.

Online Tutorial – launches a browser window and opens the CommView online tutorial.

Check for an Update on the Web – opens the update wizard. Please follow the instructions on the screen to download and install the latest upgrade for CommView for WiFi from the TamoSoft Web site.

Activation – allows you to activate your software license or check the current activation status.

About – shows information about the program.

Almost every element of the interface has a context-sensitive m

enu that can be invoked by clicking on the right mouse button, and many commands are available only through these menus.

The first tab is used for displaying detailed information about your computer's network connections (IP protocol only). For more information see Latest IP Connections.

The second tab is used for viewing captured network packets and displaying detailed information about a selected packet. For more information see Packets.

The third tab allows you to save captured packets to files. For more information see Logging.

The fourth tab is for configuring rules that allow you to capture/ignore packets based on various criteria, such as IP address or port number. For more information see Rules.

The fifth tab allows you to create alarms that can notify you about important events, such as suspicious packets, high bandwidth utilization, unknown addresses, etc. For more information see Alarms.

The sixth tab allows you to work with the VoIP analysis module. Note that this tab is only available to VoIP license users or evaluation version users who selected VoIP evaluation mode.

You can change some of the settings, such as fonts, colors, and buffer size by selecting Settings from the menu. For more information see Setting Options.