The libpcap/WInPcap/Npcap syntax is older than Wireshark, even when Wireshark was still called Ethereal it doesn't support the notion of arbitrary named fields, so it wasn't a syntax that could be used for Wireshark's filtering. Those filters can be specified to control which of the captured packets that Wireshark has read in will be displayed. This is the syntax that Wireshark implements for filters it is not the same syntax that libpcap/WinPcap/Npcap implements. Those filters can be specified as a parameter when capturing network traffic in Wireshark.ĭisplay filters are implemented by Wireshark they can perform complex tests on any 'named field' in any protocol supported by Wireshark.

This is the syntax that those libraries implement for filters this describes the filter of current versions of libpcap - older versions may not support all those features, and WinPcap is built on an older version of libpcap that doesn't support all those features.

There are two types of filters in Wireshark - capture filters and display filters.Ĭapture filters are implemented by the software that Wireshark uses to capture network traffic, namely the libpcap/WinPcap/Npcap library and the kernel-mode code they run on top of.

Wireshark ip filter