Provided by: libnetpacket-perl_1.7.2-2_all 
NAME
NetPacket - assemble/disassemble network packets at the protocol level
VERSION
version 1.7.2
SYNOPSIS
# NetPacket is a base class only
DESCRIPTION
"NetPacket" provides a base class for a cluster of modules related to decoding and encoding of network
protocols. Each "NetPacket" descendent module knows how to encode and decode packets for the network
protocol it implements. Consult the documentation for the module in question for protocol-specific
implementation.
Note that there is no inheritance in the "NetPacket::" cluster of modules other than each protocol module
being a "NetPacket". This was seen to be too restrictive as imposing inheritance relationships (for
example between the IP, UDP and TCP protocols) would make things like tunneling or other unusual
situations difficult.
WRITING YOUR OWN "NetPacket::" MODULE
You are encouraged to write additional "NetPacket::" modules as well as improve existing ones. Contact
the maintainer of the module in question with your suggestions or changes.
The following sections are a list of suggestions and conventions for writing a "NetPacket::" module.
Naming Conventions
When creating a module in the "NetPacket::" namespace, it is suggested that you stick to a couple of
conventions when naming packet contents. This will hopefully lead to a consistent namespace making the
"NetPacket::" easier to use.
Content names are all lowercase, with underscores separating multiple words. The following abbreviations
are recommended:
Word Abbreviation
--------------------------------
source src
destination dest
checksum cksum
identifier id
version ver
protocol proto
Required Methods
encode(), decode(), strip()
Required Fields
Every NetPacket:: object should have the following fields.
_parent
A link to the parent "NetPacket::" object in which this "NetPacket::" object is encaulated. This
field is undefined if there is no parent object.
_frame
A copy of the raw data of the packet.
data
This field should contain the data encapsulated in the packet (i.e any headers or trailers stripped
off) or undef if the packet contains no data. Note that in this sense, "data" is taken to mean
information not relevant to the particular protocol being decoded. For example, an ARP packet
contains many header fields but no data. A UDP datagram, however contains header fields and a
payload.
SEE ALSO
Joel Knight has a patch for NetPacket for IPv6 support available at
http://www.packetmischief.ca/code/netpacket/.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2001 Tim Potter and Stephanie Wehner.
Copyright (c) 1995,1996,1997,1998,1999 ANU and CSIRO on behalf of the participants in the CRC for
Advanced Computational Systems ('ACSys').
This module is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic
License 2.0.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even
the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
AUTHORS
Tim Potter <tpot@samba.org> Stephanie Wehner <atrak@itsx.com> Yanick Champoux <yanick@cpan.org>