I started doing some cleanup on the TRANSUM post-dissector 
(https://code.wireshark.org/review/19406).  Included in that cleanup was 
removing an explicit preference to enable/disable the post-dissector (it 
apparently can be resource and processor intensive) because dissectors can 
already be enabled/disabled through the Analyze -> Enable Protocols menu.  
However this raised some questions about how to really classify post-dissectors 
(and are they really the same as "dissectors").
 
Sending this out to elicit feedback.  I understand how they could not be 
considered dissectors, but should that mean they have their own menu?  Somehow 
part of "statistics"? (I argue against that because the post-dissectors still 
add to the packet tree, while stats provide an additional dialog for their 
information.)  We have 4 post-dissectors in the current source (mate, transom, 
snort, prp) and only mate defaults to being enabled (based on quick grep of API 
calls, it may be smart enough to be "disabled" if there is no configuration).  
However, there are probably many post-dissectors written for Lua as it seems 
like a good fit. (that's how TRANSUM started out)
 
I would still like to remove the explicit TRANSUM preference for 
enable/disable, as well as the explicit preferences for the other 
post-dissectors (would be covered in other patches).  We can add them back as 
an "implicit" preference (something similar to what was done with the port 
preferences), but I still like the idea of a central place to view all 
enabled/disabled post-dissectors (if they are separated from "regular" 
dissectors).
 
Michael

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