Note: This extension is experimental, and has a number of shortcomings. Please read all of these instructions before trying it out.

Extension Goal:

This extension allows you to "ping" a remote server using an HTTP conversation. This times the entire conversation, and will depend partly on the size of the page that is being served, plus the server performance. This script is somewhat outside the core value proposition of PingPlotter Pro and has some limitations:
  • When using this script, the intermediate hops have no way of handling GET requests, so you only get latencies for the final destination. (If you want intermediate hops, then set up an configuration in PingPlotter Pro and monitor that target with route-supporting protocol, like the TCP type, in addition to this one).
  • PingPlotter isn't designed to enter pages or URLs, so entry of the page name is pretty ugly (and a bit of a hack).
  • Latencies can exceed 32 seconds with an HTTP GET, and PingPlotter only stores 32 seconds, so anything longer than 32 seconds either shows as a timeout, or shows as 32 seconds.
  • A lost packet in the TCP conversation gets represented as additional latency, rather than lost packets since the TCP system is built to correct for any lost packets.
  • The VBScript timer isn't all that accurate, and we're only that accurate (1ms on some systems, as high as 20ms on others).
  • This script creates additional work on the remote web server, so please use with discretion!
Required PingPlotter Pro version:

This extension requires PingPlotter Pro 3.30.0p or higher.

Installation Instructions:
  • Download the attachment from this post (link near the title). The file will be named "HTTP GET.ppx"
  • Save it in your "c:\Program Files\Pingplotter Pro\scripts" directory (or the appropriate path if you've not installed to that location).
  • Close and restart PingPlotter Pro.
  • Go to Edit -> Options, and create a new named configuration (see the manual for details), and pick "HTTP GET" for the Packet Type. Name the configuration something useful (like "HTTP Page Test", or similar).
  • Go to the main trace screen, and pick your new configuration in the "Settings" dropdown below the target name.
  • Now, here's the really important "killer" part (the part that's really a hack to get the address there). When entering your address, do it in the form of IPAddress (space) URL. Let's say your server is 192.168.1.1 and your URL is http://mytestserver/mytestpage/blah. Enter the URL in this form:

    192.168.1.1 http://mytestserver/mytestpage/blah
    (There should only be one space - between the IP and the name.)
  • Start "Tracing". You'll get a single hop route showing the response time for that page.
Other Notes:

For best results on the summary page, install this script, too (if you don't, the summary page will be not as meaningful as it could be).

If you want to verify that you're properly accessing a page, enter a wrong URL - say, an invalid address or something that redirects. Any error response codes from the server will show up as an error in PingPlotter, and you'll be able to see the error code above the trace window.

**Update (April 15, 2015): PingPlotter v4 requires an updated version of this script to work, which you'll find attached below.


Attachments
HTTP GET.ppx (2478 downloads)
HTTP GET(v4).ppx (1635 downloads)



Edited by Gary (04/15/15 12:54 PM)