How to add an array to a subtree in a Wireshark Lua dissector?

Question

I am writing a Wireshark dissector with Lua that dissects a complex payload of a TCP packet. The payload has well-defined octet and integer fields, which I can cope with, but includes a data section that contains an array of compressed IQ complex numbers. That array is complex to decode and I can probably get away with just displaying it as an octet array or bitstream. What options are available to me in Lua to do this?

Update:

I tried using:

iqSamples_F = ProtoField.bytes("iqSamples", "iqSamples")

iqSamples_range = buffer(start_of_data, length_of_data)
iqSamples = iqSamples_range:string()

subtree_rb:add(iqSamples_F, iqSamples_range, iqSamples)

but that gives the wrong representation, as the data is not a string. I need to show the actual hex value of each octet not its ASCII equivalent.

DavidA DavidA · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-24T12:10:53

Fixed by omitting 3rd parameter to subtree:add():

subtree_rb:add(iqSamples_F, iqSamples_range)

How to add an array to a subtree in a Wireshark Lua dissector?

1 Answers