IBM Page Detailer

1. Can I use my favorite browser with IBM Page Detailer?

Yes. IBM Page Detailer installs itself configured for Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and several versions of Netscape browsers. Other browsers can easily be added; in the help file, please see the section "Using Page Detailer with Other Applications." The only restrictions are that your program must use HTTP/HTTPS and Windows Sockets.

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2. Does IBM Page Detailer work with HTTPS (SSL)?

Yes and no. IBM Page Detailer Basic (the evaluation version) can capture timing and size data for HTTPS traffic, but the actual data transferred is encrypted when it travels through the IBM Page Detailer socket probe. Because the captured data is encrypted, many of the features of IBM Page Detailer will lack appropriate data and appear blank.

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3. Can IBM Page Detailer automate and track Web browser operations for me?

No. IBM Page Detailer is an interactive tool that is intended to be used with a human operator. You use your browser to traverse sites and IBM Page Detailer captures timing, size, and content data for your browser session.

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4. Can IBM Page Detailer show me the headers, the post data, and the content transferred via HTTP?

Yes. IBM Page Detailer captures the data transferred between the browser and the host. This data includes the request header, post data (if any), reply header, and content transferred (if any). Just double-click on the chart, and all of the captured data will be presented in a text window. If the data is transferred via HTTPS (SSL), the encrypted data will not be shown.

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5. Can IBM Page Detailer work with my connection to the Internet?

Yes. IBM Page Detailer can work with any transport supported by Windows. It can be especially useful to compare the timing of a page download using different transports. A page's load time might be acceptable with a DSL connection, but unacceptable when using a dial-up connection. If half of your audience uses a dial-up connection, measuring those times may be important to you.

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6. Can IBM Page Detailer measure the "rendering time" of my browser?

No. IBM Page Detailer gets its timing data from the calls your browser makes through Windows Sockets. The captured data does not include the browser's rendering time. The timing you capture will be influenced by how fast the browser can determine which item to fetch next. For example, if your page contains base HTML, additional scripts, and a style sheet, it may take the browser some time to assemble all of the pieces and execute them in order to determine the complete address of the next item to fetch. You may see that time as a gap in the Page Detailer chart when no sockets are active.

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7. Is the IBM Page Detailer socket probe active for all applications that use Windows Sockets?

No. You must configure IBM Page Detailer to monitor each application you are interested in. By default, only Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and certain Netscape browsers activate the socket probe. Other applications will not be affected unless you configure them.

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8. Can IBM Page Detailer be used on any Web site?

Yes. IBM Page Detailer can be used with any site that your browser can access. IBM Page Detailer technology is client-based, so no additional configuration or special coding is required at the Web server. You may use it to gather the details of your site. But you are not restricted only to sites that you control. You can compare your approach with that of your competitors or even with the best sites on the Web.

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9. What details does IBM Page Detailer gather for me?

IBM Page Detailer gathers the following information:

• Connection time
• Socks connection time and size
• SSL connection time and size
• Server response time and size
• Content delivery time and size
• Delays between transfers
• Request headers
• Post data
• Reply headers
• Content data
• Page totals, averages, minimums, and maximums.

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10. Can IBM Page Detailer help me establish a more efficient Web site?

Yes. IBM Page Detailer can help by providing detailed data from the client perspective:

• You can gather details about the operation of any public site and use that intelligence where appropriate to improve your own site.
• You can look in detail at the operation of your own site and, if necessary, make simple changes at your server that improve client performance.
• You can compare different ways of structuring Web pages while still in development, in order to make informed decisions about alternatives.
• The IBM Page Detailer help file contains some helpful guidelines that you may use to improve your site.

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