Readable Protocols
Is there much point in writing a decoder for a protocol that is very readable in the first place? An example of a readable protocol would be SMTP or IMAP where commands are English words and data is mostly text (i.e. email messages or fragments thereof). The need is certainly not so critical as with a protocol such as PPP or X.25 but the answer is nevertheless a definite yes.
With an unreadable protocol, emphasis is placed on the decode pane to view what is going on. Readable protocols rely more on the summary pane. The summary pane gives a comprehensive view of what is taking place in a session. You can filter frames based on type, watch the delays between commands and responses and quickly spot faults by scanning for entries displayed in red.