Net Eagle

This dashboard consolidates a full suite of network-diagnostic, DNS/email, HTTP/HTTPS, and security-inspection tools into a single, extensible WPF application.

Platform & UI

• WPF application using MahApps.Metro for a clean, modern look
• Tab-based interface with consistent margins, star-sized layouts, and custom watermark background per pane
• Responsive controls (RowDefinition Height="*", HorizontalAlignment="Stretch") ensure each tab grows and shrinks with the window

Core Network Utilities

• Net Scanner: scan single IP or CIDR subnet for open ports, MAC, hostname, status
• MultiPing: send continuous pings to multiple hosts in parallel, real-time results
• Netstat: display local TCP/UDP connections (protocol, local/remote address, state)
• Traceroute: map hop-by-hop path to a target host, round-trip timings

DNS & WHOIS Tools

• DNS Lookup: resolve A/AAAA, MX, TXT/SPF, DMARC-DKIM records
• WHOIS: query domain registration details in a scrollable text box

HTTP & SSL/TLS Inspection

• HTTP: send GET/HEAD requests, display status code and response headers
• HTTPS: validate SSL/TLS configuration, show certificate chain and negotiation details

Email-Specific Checks

• MX/SPF/TXT/DKIM/DMARC: aggregate all DNS-based mail records for a given domain

Utilities & Extras

• Public IP: one-click retrieval of your external IP address
• Packet Capture: live NIC selection, start/stop packet capture, search and export PCAP files
• SSH Terminal: embedded WebView2 + xterm.js integration for interactive SSH sessions, auto-resizing on window change

Architecture & Patterns

• MVVM with MainViewModel driving TabItem.DataContext
• Commands (ICommand) for all actions: scan, ping, clear, export, lookup, etc.
• Data-binding to ObservableCollection for real-time grid updates
• Custom RowStyle/CellStyle to keep text visible on hover/selection

Branding & Aesthetics

• Subtle watermark logo (Assets/background.png) in each results pane via ImageBrush
• Accent button styles, consistent typography (SemiBold titles, Consolas for code/text dumps)

Network Capture in Detail

Here’s an in-depth look at your Network Capture tab—how it works, what each piece does, and how it all fits together:

Device Selection & Control

• ComboBox bound to your ViewModel’s Devices list
  • Populated at startup via SharpPcap/Pcap.NET enumeration of all network interfaces
  • DisplayMemberPath="Description" shows the friendly name (e.g. “Ethernet 2”)
• Start/Stop button
  • Text (CaptureButtonText) toggles between “Start Capture” and “Stop Capture”
  • On click, fires StartStopCaptureCommand
  • Start: begins asynchronous packet capture on the selected NIC
  • Stop: halts capture, finalizes any in-flight packets
• Clear button
  • ClearCaptureCommand empties your in-memory packet buffer and UI grid
• Export… button
  • ExportCaptureCommand serializes the current packet list to CSV or JSON for offline analysis
• Save PCAP… button
  • SavePcapCommand writes a standard .pcap file using the underlying capture library (so you can open it in Wireshark later)

Live Status & Search

• Status Text
  • Binds to CaptureStatus (“Capturing… 152 packets”, “Stopped”, or any error)
  • Updates in real time via INotifyPropertyChanged
• Search Box + Button
  • TextBox bound to SearchTerm; user can type IP, protocol name, or keyword
  • SearchCommand filters the in-memory collection (FilteredPackets) on that term
  • Enables quick drilling into hundreds or thousands of captured packets

Results Grid

• Wrapped in a Border with your subtle watermark background
• DataGrid bound to FilteredPackets (an ObservableCollection)
  • Columns
    • Time: timestamp of capture (formatted HH:mm:ss.fff)
    • Source / Dest: source and destination IP addresses
    • Proto: protocol name (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc.)
    • Len: packet length in bytes
    • Info: summary—TCP flags, HTTP Host header, DNS query name, etc.
  • Rendered in a horizontally-scrolling TextBlock with ellipsis trimming
  • Styling
    • Fully transparent rows so the watermark shows through
    • Custom RowStyle/CellStyle ensures text stays black on hover and selection
    • Star-sized “Info” column (e.g. Width="2*") takes up leftover space for readability
  • Real-time update via FilteredPackets.Add(...) as each packet arrives

Implementation Details

• Uses SharpPcap (or Pcap.NET) under the hood:
  1. Device.StartCapture() asynchronously raises “packet arrived” events
  2. Each RawCapture is wrapped in your PacketViewModel
  3. Dispatched onto the UI thread (via Dispatcher.Invoke or an IProgress) to append to the ObservableCollection
• Threading
  • Capture runs on a background thread to avoid freezing the UI
  • All UI-bound operations (collection adds, status text updates) are marshaled back to WPF’s main dispatcher

Export & Analysis

• CSV export includes all columns plus raw hex if you choose
• PCAP export writes out complete packet bytes so you can reopen in Wireshark or tshark
• Search feature supports simple substring match; you could extend to BPF-style filtering in code

Possible Enhancements

• Protocol-specific detail panes: double-click a row to show full headers in a separate panel
• Color coding: shade TCP vs UDP vs ICMP rows differently for at-a-glance scanning
• Live charts: show packet rate over time with a small chart above the grid
• Advanced filtering: support BPF syntax (“tcp port 80 and host 10.0.0.5”) rather than just “substring”