Working with HTML Frames

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Working with HTML Frames

• The Good, The Bad The Ugly

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Frames Overview

• Method of dividing the browser window into two or
  more sub-windows
• Creating a framed page is like specifying a
  blueprint for a house
• No content is specified in the HTML script that
  creates a framed page
• Use frames only when absolutely needed

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Frames A Blessing A Curse

• Can be used to organize information
• Can be used for consistency

• Can detract from message conveyance
• Can be distracting if not used correctly

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Frame Basics

• No ltbodygtlt/bodygt Container
• Individual framesets can only be specified in
  rows or columns, but never both
• Nested framesets are okay to use (allows us to
  use both rows and columns in the same page)

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Frame Syntax - ltframesetgt

• Container that acts as a blueprint in which all
  frames are specified
• Can be specified only in rows or columns, but
  never both
• Can contain nested framesets
• Several attributes
• Syntaxltframesetgtlt/framesetgt

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Attribute border
Found In ltframesetgt

• Specifies the frame border thickness between
  frames
• Takes a value in pixels
• Syntaxltframeset border2gt

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Attribute bordercolor
Found In ltframesetgt

• Specifies the border color
• Takes color names or hex values
• Support for this attribute is limited
• Syntaxltframeset bordercolorbluegt

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Attribute cols
Found In ltframesetgt

• Specifies how the frameset is to be built using
  columns
• Establishes both number of columns and their
  sizes
• Sizes can be specified in relative or absolute
  measurements
• Syntaxltframeset cols85,,85gt

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Attribute rows
Found In ltframesetgt

• Specifies how the frameset is to be built using
  rows
• Establishes both number of rows and their sizes
• Sizes can be specified in relative or absolute
  measurements
• Syntaxltframeset rows30,gt

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Attribute frameborder
Found In ltframesetgt

• Specifies whether or not a 3-D separator will be
  added between frames
• IE and Navigator differ in frameborder values
• IE takes 1 for yes and 0 for no
• Navigator takes yes or no
• Syntaxltframeset frameborder0 frameborder
  nogt

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Frame Syntax - ltframegt

• Independent tag that defines a single frame
• Helps define the content of a frame
• Found nested within ltframesetgtlt/framesetgt
• Several attributes
• Syntaxltframe attribute1 attribute2 gt

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Attributes bordercolor frameborder
Found In ltframegt

• Same purpose as the same attributes found in
  ltframesetgtlt/framesetgt
• Same syntaxltframe bordercolorFF0000 framebo
  rder1 frameborderyesgt

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Attribute name
Found In ltframegt

• Gives a frame a name
• Required for referencing that frame as a target
  in hypertext references
• Syntaxltframe nametopTitlegt

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Attribute src
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies the source of the HTML file initially
  loaded into a given frame
• Required
• Can take absolute or relative pathnames
• Syntaxltframe srclabs/lab1.htmlgt

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Attribute src
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies the source of the HTML file initially
  loaded into a given frame
• Required
• Can take absolute or relative pathnames
• Syntaxltframe srclabs/lab1.htmlgt

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Attribute marginwidth
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies the amount of space between the left
  and right edges of a frame and the frame contents
• Specified in pixels
• Syntaxltframe marginwidth10gt

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Attribute marginheight
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies the amount of space between the top and
  bottom edges of a frame and the frame contents
• Specified in pixels
• Syntaxltframe marginheight10gt

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Attribute noresize
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies that the user will not be able to
  resize a frame
• Needs only to be specified once in an individual
  frameset
• Takes no values
• Syntaxltframe noresizegt

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Attribute scrolling
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies whether or not a scrollbar appears in a
  frame
• Three possible values
• yes
• no
• auto
• Syntaxltframe scrollingautogt

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Attribute longdesc
Found In ltframegt

• Specifies a link to a document containing a text
  description of a frame
• Used for non-visual browsers
• Syntaxltframe longdesclabs/lab1Desc.htmlgt

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Frame Syntax - ltnoframesgt

• Container that defines content for browsers that
  do no read frames
• Found after lt/framesetgt tag
• No attributes
• SyntaxltnoframesgtYour browser does not support
  frames. Upgradeor die a slow, painful
  death!lt/noframesgt

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Nesting Framesets

• ltframeset rows20,gt
• ltframe nametitlegt
• ltframeset cols120,gt
• ltframe nametocgt ltframe namemaingt
• lt/framesetgt
• lt/framesetgt

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Targeting Frames

• Target frames using the standard anchor tag - lta
  href gt
• Target is defined in content pages only, not in
  ltframesetgtlt/framesetgt
• Uses the target attribute
• target attribute identifies the frames name

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Targeting Frames

• Syntaxlta hrefmypage.html targetmaingtOpen
  page in main frame!lt/agt

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Targeting Frames

• Reserved target values_blank_self_parent_top
• Syntaxlta hrefmypage.html target_blankgtOp
  en page in a new window!lt/agt

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Using the ltbasegt tag

• Allows you to specify a default target for all
  links in a document
• Saves a lot of typing
• Found in the ltheadgtlt/headgt
• Syntaxltheadgt ltbase targetmaingtlt/headgt

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Questions?