Applet

Applet Support Key: [2\|3\|*3.2\|4] [X1\|X1.1] [IE3B2\|M\|N2\|O3.5*]	What is it? Attributes Tag Example	Parent/Content Model Tips & Tricks Browser Peculiarities
= Index DOT Html by Brian Wilson =

Main Index | Element Tree | Element Index | HTML Support History

Quick Statistics
End Tag:		Required
Standards Details:		Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element
XHTML Modules:		Applet
CSS 'display' Type:		"inline" (replaced)
CSS Mapping:		NA
Default Rendering:		Replaced with java applet of specified dimensions
Official Docs:		HTML 4.x

What is it?: The APPLET element is the mechanism to embed and invoke a Java application within an HTML document. A browser that understands this element will ignore everything in the content of the APPLET element except for embedded PARAM elements [which are used to pass parameters to the Applet.] Browsers that do not understand this element should ignore it and the embedded PARAM elements and process the content between the begin and end APPLET tags instead (this should also happen when the Applet fails to load for whatever reason.)

Common Attributes
%Core%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N4|O]
%Accessibility%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]
%Events%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N|O]
%Language%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N|O]
%Data%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N|O]
%Editing%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE5.5|M|N|O]
Specific Attributes
Align
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O3.5-3.6x]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies the alignment of text following the APPLET reference relative to the applet on screen. LEFT and RIGHT specify floating horizontal alignment of the applet in the browser window, and subsequent text will wrap around the applet. The other options specify vertical alignment of text relative to the applet on the same line.; Values: Left | Right | Top | Texttop | Middle | Textmiddle | Baseline | Bottom | Textbottom
Alt
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This attribute indicates text to be displayed for text only browsers or browsers that do not understand the Applet element [I am not sure why this attribute exists if the same holds true for all APPLET element content.]; Values: CDATA
Archive
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N3B7-??|O]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies an archive file containing the classes necessary for the applet. The archive file URL is relative to the CODEBASE URL path. Classes not in the zip file will still be searched for via the other attribute methods available, if required.; Values: CDATA. [An absolute or relative URL to a GNU-ZIP .ZIP format file. All URLs should be URL encoded where required.]
Border
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N2|O]: Standards Details: NA; Required? No; Description:
This SHOULD control the pixel thickness of a border around the applet if it was to behave the way other elements carrying a BORDER attribute behave. Instead, it just appears to render a padding around the APPLET with the designated value being the amount of pixel padding around the APPLET.; Values: 0, for no border, or a positive integer pixel value.
Code
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O3.5]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? Yes; Description:
This attribute indicates a URL pointing to the Applet's code/class.; Values: CDATA. [Either an absolute or relative URL. All URLs should be URL encoded where required.]
CodeBase
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This attribute indicates the base URL of the applet if the CODE attribute is relative. If the CODEBASE URL is relative, it is in relation to the current document URL or the BASE HREF element, if present.; Values: CDATA. [Either an absolute or relative URL. All URLs should be URL encoded where required.]
Height
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O3.5]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? Yes; Description:
This attribute explicitly specifies the height of the applet in pixels. It can be used to speed up display of the document being downloaded so it can pre-render the document with an applet placeholder while the applet downloads.; Values: CDATA. [Positive integers or positive integers followed by a "%" representing a percentage length]
HSpace
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O4]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies the horizontal spacing (left and right padding) around the applet in pixels.; Values: 0, for no horizontal padding, or a positive integer pixel value.
Mayscript
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N3-??|O]: Standards Details: NA; Required? No; Description:
This is a stand-alone attribute which permits the applet to access Javascript functionality and data on a page. Attempts to access Javascript when this attribute is not present results in a Java exception.; Values: NA
Name
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O3.5]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This provides a way for the applet to identify itself to other applets in the current HTML page.; Values: CDATA
Object
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N??|O]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
"This attribute gives the name of the resource that contains a 'serialized' representation of an applet. The applet will be deserialized by the browser. The init() method will not be invoked; but its start() method will. Attributes valid when the original object was serialized are not restored. Any attributes passed to this applet instance will be available to the Applet."; Values: CDATA
Src
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N??|O3.5]: Standards Details: NA; Required? No; Description:
Indicates an external URL reference to an applet. (this ability is also covered with the CODE and CODEBASE attributes); Values: Either an absolute or relative URL. All URLs should be URL encoded where required.
VSpace
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O4]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies the vertical spacing (top and bottom padding) around the applet in pixels.; Values: 0, for no vertical padding, or a positive integer pixel value.
Width
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3B2|M|N2|O3.5]: Standards Details: Deprecated in HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0. Dropped in XHTML 1.1 in favor of OBJECT element.; Required? Yes; Description:
This attribute explicitly specifies the width of the applet in pixels. It can be used to speed up display of the document being downloaded so it can pre-render the document with an applet placeholder while the applet downloads.; Values: CDATA. [Positive integers or positive integers followed by a "%" representing a percentage length]

Example: <applet codebase="http://www.foo.com/java/" code="javaexample.class" width="200" height="300">
   <param name="text1" value="Example Text 1" />
   <param name="imagecaption" value="Image Caption" />
   <param name="bounceimage" value="bounce1.gif" />
   <img src="non_java_image.gif" width="200" height="300" border="0" alt="You are missing the full Java Experience.">
</applet>

Parent Model: %In-line Parent% | %Block Parent%
Content Model: %In-line Content% | %Block Content% | <param>

Tips & Tricks

This element replaces the older APP element that was also used in several browsers to include JAVA Applets.
The OBJECT element absorbs all of the functionality of the APPLET element. Historic support for APPLET is greater, but it is no longer in XHTML DTDs. Choose the element as it is appropriate to your audience.
HTML 4.x+ recommends that authors use the ID attribute instead of the NAME attribute wherever possible. ID is the accepted method moving forward and NAME will eventually be removed.

Browser Peculiarities

The Internet Explorer online tag reference in the IE 3.0 timeframe listed support for the TITLE attribute for this element. IE3 never showed any signs that it actually supported this.
Internet Explorer supports a compressed code technology for Java similar to the intent of the ARCHIVE attribute. This scheme uses Microsoft's Cabinet archiving format. CABBASE is used as an applet parameter to indicate the location of the compressed file. Problem: Internet Explorer does not appear to use the CODE or CODEBASE attributes as fallback data sources for the applet code if the CABBASE URL is invalid or unavailable.
Netscape 3.0 uses the GNU-ZIP format for the ARCHIVE attribute, but they must be archived with compression turned off, or else this attribute will fail. IE4+ and Netscape 4+ do allow zip file compression for this attribute.
[Test] Linefeed and Carriage Return handling (
 and  respectively) for the ALT attribute:
- Internet Explorer: All literal/unencoded or encoded CR/LFs are maintained and displayed as intended.
- Netscape: All unencoded or encoded CR/LFs are collapsed to nothing in ALT display (not the normal method for spacing-character collapsing - usually it would collapse to a single space.)
[Test] A bad bug exists in the Netscape 6 betas where selecting text that included an applet would crash the browser if a mouse event handler was attached to the applet. This was fixed by 6.0 final.