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

HttpWatch integrates with Internet Explorer and records detailed information about HTTP as you access a web site or application. 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 and more...

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.

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. 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 Internet Explorer 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 HTTP pages in Internet Explorer. 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 HttpWatchHttpWatch is used in a wide variety of companies and industries for tasks such as:
￭ Testing a web application to ensure that it is correctly issuing cookies or setting headers that control page expiration
￭ Finding out how other sites work and how they implement certain features
￭ Checking the information that Internet Explorer is supplying when you visit a site
￭ Verifying that a secure web site is not issuing sensitive data in cookies or headers
￭ Tuning the performance of a web site by measuring download times, caching or the number of network round trips
￭ Learning about how HTTP works (useful for programming and web design classes)
￭ Allowing webmasters to fine tune the caching of images and other content
￭ Performing regression testing on production servers to verify performance and correct behavior

Here are some key features of "HttpWatch Basic Edition":

Records HTTPHttpWatch captures a wide range of HTTP related data including:
· Headers and Cookies
· URLs and method (e.g. GET, POST, etc)
· Parameters sent in a query strings and POST requests
· HTTP status codes and errors
· Redirections
· The network size of the HTTP response including headers
· Chunked encoding
· Decrypts HTTPS Traffic
· Secure browser sessions that use the HTTPS protocol are displayed in their unencrypted form in HttpWatch, making it easy to debug banking and finance applications.
· Integrates With Internet Explorer
Starting HttpWatch is simple and easy. An extra toolbar button is added to Internet Explorer allowing HttpWatch to be opened and started with two mouse clicks:
· Compact & Comprehensive Log Files
· The log file format used by HttpWatch results in much smaller files that other formats such as XML and contains everything that is displayed in HttpWatch. This includes binary format files and streams, compressed content and network information. If your customers send you HttpWatch log files you will get a full and accurate representation of the HTTP activity in their browser.
· Includes a Standalone Log File Viewer
· A standalone log file viewer allows HttpWatch .hwl files to be viewed and modified outside of Internet Explorer.
· Summary of Recorded Traffic
The Summary view can be used at any time to quickly display data about the whole log, a single page or a number of selected items. The following types of data are shown:
· Performance - this tab shows how long the requests took to complete and can be used to accurately measure page download time. It also shows how much network bandwidth was used and the savings achieved from using HTTP compression
· Status Codes - this tab records how many times each HTTP status code was received
· Errors - any network or HTTP level errors are displayed on this tab. Double clicking on an error finds the first request that caused the error. Pressing F3 then takes you to the next request that also failed in the same way.
· Grouping Of Requests By Page
· Requests are grouped by page as shown below. Each page group can be separately expanded or collapsed to aid navigation through large log files.
· Real-Time Page Level Time Charts
Page level time charts are displayed and updated in real-time as you record requests in HttpWatch. This gives a direct, visual indication of how a site is performing - allowing common problems to be diagnosed at a glance:
· Request Level Time Charts
· The time chart displayed for each request is broken down into a number of colored sections to show network level timings such as DNS lookup and TCP connects.
· Collect Log Files from Customers and Users
By using HttpWatch Basic Edition, you and your customers can record and view log files without having to purchase extra HttpWatch licenses. Here are two scenarios where you could make use of the free Basic Edition of HttpWatch:
· Send log files to your suppliers
· If you have HttpWatch Professional Edition your log files can be viewed by anyone using HttpWatch Basic Edition. This can be useful if you want to record and send log files to a supplier to illustrate a problem you are experiencing with a web based service.
· View log files from your customers or in-house users
· You can view log files from your customers and in-house users by getting them to install the free Basic Edition of HttpWatch. They can then record a trace file and send it to you for analysis in HttpWatch Professional Edition.
· Automation Interface
· HttpWatch has a comprehensive automation interface that can be used by most programming languages (e.g. C#, Javascript & Ruby). The interface can be used to control the HttpWatch plug-in for IE and access data in HttpWatch log files. If you are already running automated tests, you can integrate HttpWatch and record HTTP level information during your tests. The recorded data that then be checked for certain types of configuration and performance problems (e.g. HTTP compression is not enabled).
· The ability to access data in an HttpWatch log file makes it possible to develop custom reports and automate repetitive tasks. The C# code, shown below, exports all javascript files from a log file.
· Millisecond Level Timing
· The timing information displayed in HttpWatch is accurate to a a single millisecond (0.001 sec).
· Supports Advanced Filtering
· HttpWatch supports filtering of requests by wide variety of criteria such as content types, response codes, URLs, headers and content.
· HTTP Compression
· HttpWatch works with systems that have HTTP compression enabled, displaying the expanded content and providing information about the compression savings achieved.
· Dynamic Sorting
· Data can be sorted in HttpWatch by clicking on a column heading. The sort order is applied to existing items and used to order new items as they appear.
· Extended

Requirements:

· Internet Explorer 6 or 7

Limitations:

· Only displays extended HTTP information for a limited number of well known sites.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· New: Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 is now supported