This element is part of the Frame syntax. Each FRAME element within the
FRAMESET structure defines the URL contents of a particular frame window
as well as attributes the frame window will carry. A particular frame can
be TARGETed as a destination for hyperlinks and
other active linking elements when given a NAME attribute to identify it.
Description:
This attribute controls the background transparency of the FRAME
element. If this attribute is false, the background color of the FRAME
may only be that of the window. If the attribute is true, the background
color of the FRAME may be set to any value, including transparent.
Values: False (DEFAULT)- FRAME
is opaque and can not be made transparent. True - FRAME may be any color, including transparent.
Description:
This attribute indicates whether or not the FRAME content is an HTML
Application (HTA, a feature introduced in IE5), and is thus exempt from the
IE browser security model.
Values: No (DEFAULT)- Normal browser
security rules applied Yes - All FRAME content is treated as an HTA, content is trusted
Description:
Controls the color to be used for frame borders. The color value
specified in the FRAME element overrides any previously defined FRAMESET colors
for that frame.
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
Controls the display of the border around the frame. This value overrides any
global FRAMEBORDER attributes already set in a FRAMESET element. Because borders
are shared between frames, a border will only be turned off if all the frames
sharing it have their FRAMEBORDER attribute set to "no" (or 0.)
Values:
Netscape lists values for this attribute as Yes
[DEFAULT] and No.
HTML 4.x and IE list values of 1
[DEFAULT] and 0
[display no border.]
Longdesc
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE|M|N|O]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
This attribute specifies the URL of a longer description of the contents
of the FRAME specified in the SRC attribute. This would allow long
passages of descriptive narrative with markup for the content of the FRAME.
Values:CDATA.
[Either an absolute or relative URL. All URLs should be URL encoded where required.]
MarginHeight
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE3A1|M|N2|O2.1]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
This attribute gives the author control over the top and bottom margins
of the current frame. Default behavior is to allow the browser to decide
on the margin values.
Values:CDATA.
[Integers representing the pixel height for the top and bottom margin.
Must be values that do not yield a margin value of 0 or less, or a value
that would not allow any text to be displayed.]
MarginWidth
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE3A1|M|N2|O2.1]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
This attribute gives the author control over the left and right margins of
the current frame. Default behavior is to allow the browser to decide on
the margin values.
Values:CDATA.
[Integers representing the pixel width for the left and right margin.
Must be values that do not yield a margin value of 0 or less, or a value
that would not allow any text to be displayed.]
Name
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE3A1|M|N2|O2.1]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
Indicates the symbolic name assigned to the current frame for reference
by the browser when other links or actions target the frame as a
destination. Named frames in a FRAMESET structure can serve as a
destination of links via the TARGET
attribute within the A,
AREA, BASE,
and FORM elements.
Values:CDATA.
[Default value for this attribute (and hence for all framed documents) is to be unnamed.]
NoResize
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE3A1|M3B2|N2|O2.1]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
This is a stand-alone flag which tells the browser that the current frame
is not resizable by the user. Assigning this attribute to one frame can
effect the resizability of other adjacent frames. Default behavior
for all frames is to be resizable.
Values: NA (HTML); noresize (XHTML)
Scrolling
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE3A1|M3B2|N2|O2.1]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? No
Description:
This provides guidelines for displaying a scrollbar in the frame for the user.
Values: Auto
[Let the browser decide if a scrollbar is necessary -
DEFAULT.] Yes [always provide a scrollbar] No [never provide scrollbar]
Src
[2|3|3.2|4]
[X1|X1.1]
[IE3A1|M3B2|N2|O2.1]
Standards Details:
In Transitional and Frameset HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs only. Dropped in XHTML 1.1.
Required? Yes
Description:
This attribute represents the URL of the current frame document. A FRAME
element with no SRC attribute will display a blank space where the frame would be.
Values:CDATA.
[Either an absolute or relative URL. All URLs should be URL encoded where required.]
Example
<html>
<head>
<title>Frames
Example</title>
</head>
<framesetrows="20,25%,*">
<framesrc="frame1.html"
name="frame1" />
<framesrc="frame2.html"
name="frame2" />
<framesetcols="30%,*">
<framesrc="frame3.html"
name="frame3" />
<framesrc="frame4.html"
name="frame4" />
</frameset>
<noframes>
<body>
This text
will appear only if the browser does not support frames.
</body>
</noframes>
</frameset>
</html>
There are many readers out there who do not like frames. Keep this in mind when
authoring your pages.
Good situations to use frames: Elements that the User Should Always See.
Things such as control bars, copyright notices, and title graphics can be
placed in a static, individual frame. Table of Contents.
One frame can contain an index that, when clicked, displays results in an
adjoining frame. Question and Answer.
Frames design allows queries to be posed and answered on the same page, with
one frame holding the query form, and the other presenting the results.
It is STRONGLY recommended to include alternate body content
in the NOFRAMES section of a frames definition document. Even if the content
is a link to a non-framed version of the page, this provides users of frames
incapable browsers the chance to view the content of your site.
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
Support Note: An attempt was made in the beta versions
of Mosaic V. 3.0 to support frames capability, but it was retracted
for the PC final release version.
Internet Explorer briefly flirted with a syntax for floating frames
(implemented like an IMG element) using extensions to the FRAME element.
This was changed to the IFRAME element in
3.0 Beta 2 to allow for backward compatibility for non-supporting browsers.
When the old syntax is encountered in versions 3.0 Beta 2 and greater,
Internet Explorer gives a warning message that the syntax has changed.
The Mac Mosaic 3.0 betas (which allowed framed documents) do not support
TARGETing of frames.
None of the Internet Explorer or Netscape versions allow recursive references
to parent documents.
Anecdote: A security hole was found in early Netscape implementations
where an author could specify a fairly invisible 1 pixel frame that could
keep track of all sites the user visited.
[Test]
I have seen behavior in some Internet Explorer versions where the BODY
BACKGROUND attribute in the NOFRAMES section is applied to the frame borders.
This behavior is an odd artifact and probably a bug.
[Test]
In all versions of Netscape, if no SRC attribute is initially specified,
the frame area is no longer addressable as a target (even if a NAME is
specified) for document links, etc. Internet Explorer and Opera handle
the case of an initial blank SRC just fine.
[Test]
Authors can also choose to specify ROWS and COLS in the same FRAMESET
element. If this is done, the nested FRAME references will be assigned
sequentially to the ROWS and COLS layout specifications as follows:
left to right, top to bottom (eg: COLS, then ROWS.)
IE/Netscape Compatibility: If you are trying to
create content that flows seamlessly across frames in IE and Netscape,
check out this document
for some tips.
Internet Explorer versions before 5.5 Beta 1 implemented frames by creating new
instances of IE. The greater the number of frames, the greater the number
of active IE "browser copies" there were. This was not the most efficient
of methods. Beginning in IE v5.5 Beta 1 frames are now implemented using
a single browser control, which Microsoft states will improve overall
frame performance.
CSS: Before IE v5.5 Beta 1, FRAMEs and IFRAMEs could not use the 'z-index'
property (they would always be on the "top" of the rendering surface and
nothing could be placed "above" them) and could not be transparent (such
that content from positioned content beneath would "shine through".)
Beginning in IE v5.5 Beta 1, these capabilities now exist.
[Test]
Netscape 4.5x, Macintosh only: Scenario: A frameset consists
of two identical rows, referencing the same document, that contains
only a single image horizontally centered on the page. Result: The two
images do not line up over each other. Probable cause: Netscape is
treating the SCROLLING attribute in the top frame as if it were set to
YES, even though it does not render scrollbars...hence the top frame
shifts the page content over to the left to ALLOW for a
scrollbar, even though one is not rendered. The bottom frame is rendered
normally (with no scrollbar and the page content in the normal location.)
This prolem was only noticed on the Macintosh versions, and I have only
been able to briefly test this on NS 4.5, so it may be a more complex
problem than this.
The BORDER attribute in Netscape has many limits to its use, but it
DOES have a slight effect.