Alternative HTTP debugging proxies, for debugging
Note: This blog post is from 2006. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.I've previously mentioned the value of using HTTP debugging proxies, which help you observe the communications out of your browser and back, which can be especially helpful debugging problems with Ajax and Flex/Flash apps as well as general-purpose web apps. Though I've pointed out a couple of my favorites (Fiddler and Firebug) before, here is a larger list. "To each his own", as they say.
Most are free, some are browser-specific, and I've tried to break the list up that way. These tools are also referred to as MITM, or Man In The Middle, proxies or http sniffers.
[Update: Since writing this in 2006, most modern browsers now provide this sort of client proxy/debugging functionality built-in. I wrote about them in a 2012 blog entry. Also, I long ago moved this list (and more such tools) above to a new location with far more updated info: a category in my CF411.com list of tools and resources for CFers.]
And there are still other ways to do the kind of communication analysis, including tcp trace tools and even a Sniffer and a tcpmon tool, both built into CFMX and useful for watching the http traffic going into CF. There's also the NetConnection Debugger for Flash and Flex. Still, I'm limiting this discussion just to HTTP debugging proxies. If folks know of still others, feel free to add them in the comments.
Free, General-purpose HTTP Debugging Proxies
Free, IE-only Proxies
- ieHttpHeaders, from Jonas Blunck
- TamperIE, from Bayden Systems
Free, Firefox-only Proxies
- Firebug, from Joe Hewitt
- Tamper Data, from Adam Judson
- LiveHttpHeaders, from Mozdev
Commercial Proxies
- IE Inspector, from IEInspector
- ServiceCapture, from Kevin Langdon
I'd like to point out as well that this list appears, along with other similar lists of tools related to CF, on an older site I still maintain: http://www.systemanage.com/cff/considering_products.cfm
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http://www.ethereal....
http://www.wireshark...
But then, I use it for other things as well, and it's nice having one tool that solves all of my network-traffic-sniffing needs. It also has a pretty comprehensive logging and filtering interface, so that I can show just the stuff that I want, then replay it later.
Great list of Debugging Proxies. I can add this one:
Charles from Karl von Randow
Charles is a Shareware HTTP proxy / HTTP monitor / Reverse Proxy that enables a developer to view all of the HTTP traffic between their machine and the Internet. This includes requests, responses and the HTTP headers (which contain the cookies and caching information), and can process AMF (Flash Remoting) packets too!
http://www.xk72.com/...
Cheers,
Darren
And thanks, Darren, for the mention of Charles. I do now recall it, but couldn't find it as a I dug around for some of the ones I'd heard of. Thanks.
its specialy built for Flash/Ajax debuging.
// chall3ng3r //
http://www.mavensecu...
Though Charles is the best one out there at the moment. Though it's a little bit expensive.
cheers
"HTTP Inspector: An interface for examining HTTP requests and responses as they happen. It runs a local proxy which intercepts HTTP traffic and records each transaction, which can then be viewed. The Inspector can break on a request or response, which can then be edited and submitted or re-submitted in its modified form."
I haven't used Komodo much at my current job (mostly CF via HomeSite and CFEclipse), but it was invaluable at my last job (Perl and PHP).
http://www.activesta...
-R
More on TCPMonitor usage:
http://ws.apache.org...
I swear, I'm not getting a nickel for this testimony! :)
It's actually the first piece of software i payed for in years, except flashcom and OS/X, which came with the laptop..
Multi-platform and like mentioned earlier.. great response times
http://www.httpdebug...
You can use the HTTP Debugger
http://www.httpdebug...
which works not only with IE or FireFox but also with custom developed programs and system services.
Thanks,
KP
http://www.carehart....
I don't think it will make sense to keep both lists up to date, so I'd recommend people please go visit there to see if I have indeed already added a tool, before suggesting it here.
Of course, that also means that those looking for more of these tools should look at the link after reading the above.
I want to add Membrane Monitor, a HTTP proxy sniffer with a CLI and a GUI based on the Eclipse RCP platform. For XML messages it has a formatter.
http://www.membrane-...
Emily
Multi-platform and like mentioned earlier