Patent ID: 8176169

Claim:
A method of displaying a representation of data that has traversed a network, comprising: storing a collection of packets retrieved from an electronic network; displaying, on a display, a list of categories related to characteristics of the collection of packets, the categories including listings of categorical elements, wherein at least some of the categorical elements are selectable by a user; receiving an indication, resulting from a pointing device, that one of the categorical elements has been selected, and filtering the categorical elements in accordance with the selected categorical element; displaying a selectable count adjacent each of the categorical elements, the selectable count being indicative of a number of sessions, packets or bytes an adjacent categorical element represents in the collection of packets, wherein the filtering causes a decrease in a value of respective selectable counts; displaying a session view of selected packets in the collection of packets upon receipt of an indication that the selectable count has been selected; and displaying actual content of a given session upon receipt of an indication that a selectable view content icon has been selected, the actual content being obtained from payloads of packets in the collection of packets.