Fiddler AutoResponder Match only once effected by contents of Cache

[Antonio]

Hi there,

Thank you for a marvellous product!

I'm experimenting with AutoResponder, and have found that the "Match only once" option is effected by whatever was lasted cached...

For instance, if I have 2 basic rules defined, both with Match only once option checked, as follows:

1) If request matches... "sandbox", then respond with... "http://google.com"

2) If request matches... "sandbox", then respond with... "http://microsoft.com"

Then selecting Tools > Sandbox will continue to be redirected to http://google.com, and will not invoke the second rule until the cache is cleared by way of Tools > Clear WinINIT Cache...

Forgive me if this stupid question, but is there an option somewhere in Fiddler to tell AutoResponder to override the contents of the cache?

Many thanks!

Antonio

[Antonio]

Hi there,

I've done some research and discovered that the Rules > Performance > Disable Caching feature will permit the AutoResponder "Match only once" option to work as expected...

I'm confused as to why the "Disable Caching" feature is not enabled when AutoResponder is enabled?? And, is it possible to have this feature enabled at the Rule level??

Thanks!

Antonio

[Eric Lawrence]

Fiddler is a proxy; it only ever sees requests that would have hit the network. Requests that are satisfied by a known-fresh entry in a local client cache, by definition, are not sent to the network. 

The "Disable caching" checkbox isn't as powerful as you may think it is-- it only clears the cache-related headers on requests and responses, but if the client's cache already has fresh responses, those requests will never be sent to the network and thus will never be seen by Fiddler.

In almost all cases where you're manipulating traffic (via the AutoResponder, breakpoints, or other means) you will want to ensure that you start from a cleared cache in the browser (or have used the browser's developer options, if present, to configure it to bypass the cache for all requests).

Regards,
Eric Lawrence
Telerik