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This list of Frequently Asked Questions is maintained by the WDG and was last updated on November 29, 1999. It may be found at the following URLs:
If you would like to contribute to this FAQ, please send mail to <darin@htmlhelp.com>. All contributors will be listed at the bottom of the FAQ.
In the frameset document (the HTML document containing the
<FRAMESET> and <FRAME> elements),
make sure to name the individual frames using
the NAME attribute.
The following example creates a top frame named "navigation" and a bottom
frame named "content":
<FRAMESET ROWS="*,3*">
<FRAME NAME="navigation" SRC="navigation.html">
<FRAME NAME="content" SRC="content.html">
<NOFRAMES><BODY>
<!-- Alternative non-framed version -->
</BODY></NOFRAMES>
</FRAMESET> Then, in the document with the link, use the TARGET
attribute to specify which frame should be used to display the link.
(The value of the TARGET attribute should match the value of
the target frame's NAME attribute.)
You can specify the target frame for a link (e.g.,
<A TARGET="content" HREF=...>) or for a form (e.g.,
<FORM TARGET="content" ACTION=...>).
Also, you can use <BASE TARGET=...> to change the
default target frame for the entire document (normally, the default target
frame is "_self", the current frame).
If there is no existing frame with the name you used for the
TARGET attribute, then a new browser window will be opened,
and this window will be assigned the name you used.
Furthermore, TARGET="_blank" will open a new, unnamed browser
window.
In HTML 4.0, the TARGET attribute value is
case-insensitive, so that abc and ABC both refer
to the same frame/window, and _top and _TOP both
have the same meaning. However, most browsers treat the TARGET
attribute value as case-sensitive and do not recognize ABC as
being the same as abc, or _TOP as having the
special meaning of _top.
There are two basic techniques for updating multiple frames with a
single link:
The HTML-based technique links to a new frameset document that specifies
the new combination of frames.
The JavaScript-based solution uses the onClick attribute of
the link to update the additional frame (or frames).
The HTML-based technique can link to a new frameset document with
TARGET="_top" (replacing the entire frameset), but there is an
alternative if the frames to be updated are part of a nested frameset.
In the initial frameset document, use a secondary frameset document to
define the nested frameset.
For example:
<FRAMESET COLS="*,3*">
<FRAME SRC="contents.html" NAME="Contents">
<FRAME SRC="frameset2.html" NAME="Display">
</FRAMESET> A link can now use TARGET="Display" to replace
simultaneously all the frames defined by frameset2.html.
The JavaScript-based solution uses the onClick attribute
of the link to perform the secondary update.
For example:
<A HREF="URL1" TARGET=Frame1
onClick="top.Frame2.location='URL2';">Update frames</A> The link will update Frame1 with URL1
normally.
If the reader's browser supports JavaScript (and has it enabled), then
Frame2 will also be updated (with URL2).
If you are the author, this is easy. You only have to add the
TARGET attribute to the link that takes readers to the
intended 'outside' document. Give it the value of _top.
In many current browsers, it is not possible to display a frame in the full browser window, at least not very easily. The reader would need to copy the URL of the desired frame and then request that URL manually.
I would recommend that authors who want to offer readers this option
add a link to the document itself in the document, with the
TARGET attribute set to _top so the document
displays in the full window if the link is followed.
When the sub-documents of a frameset state are accessed directly, they appear without the context of the surrounding frameset.
If the reader's browser has JavaScript support enabled, the following script will restore the frameset:
<SCRIPT TYPE="text/javascript">
<!--
if (parent.location.href == self.location.href) {
if (window.location.replace)
window.location.replace('frameset.html');
else
// causes problems with back button, but works
window.location.href = 'frameset.html';
}
// -->
</SCRIPT>A more universal approach is a "restore frames" link:
<A HREF="frameset.html" TARGET="_top">Restore Frames</A>
Note that in either case, you must have a separate frameset document for every content document. If you link to the default frameset document, then your reader will get the default content document, rather than the content document he/she was trying to access. These frameset documents should be generated automatically, to avoid the tedium and inaccuracy of creating them by hand.
Note that you can work around the problem with bookmarking frameset
states by linking to these separate frameset documents using
TARGET="_top", rather than linking to the individual content
documents.
"Getting framed" refers to having your documents displayed within
someone else's frameset without your permission.
This can happen accidentally (the frameset author forgot to use
TARGET="_top" when linking to your document) or intentionally
(the frameset author wanted to display your content with his/her own
navigation or banner frames).
To avoid "framing" other people's documents, you must add
TARGET="_top" to all links that lead to documents outside
your intended scope.
Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to specify that a particular
document should be displayed in the full browser window, rather than in the
current frame.
If you can configure your server to send the proprietary header
Window-Target: _top in the HTTP response, then Netscape
browsers will display your document in the full browser window.
However, other browsers ignore this header, and it doesn't work to use
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Window-target" CONTENT="_top">
in the document itself to mimic the HTTP response.
Another workaround is to use <BASE TARGET="_top">
in the document, but this only specifies the default target frame for
links in the current document, not for the document itself.
If the reader's browser has JavaScript enabled, the following script will automatically remove any existing framesets:
<SCRIPT TYPE="text/javascript">
<!--
if (top.frames.length!=0)
top.location=self.document.location;
// -->
</SCRIPT>An alternative script is
<SCRIPT TYPE="text/javascript">
<!--
function breakOut() {
if (self != top)
window.open("my URL","_top","");
}
// -->
</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY onLoad="breakOut()">This is unfortunately not possible. When you navigate through a site using frames, the URL will not change as the documents in the individual frames change. This means that there is no way to indicate the combination of documents that make up the current state of the frameset.
The author can provide and link to multiple frameset documents, one for each combination of frame content. These frameset documents can be generated automatically, possibly even being created on the fly by a CGI program.
Removing the border around frames involves both not drawing the frame borders and eliminating the space between the frames. The two major frames-capable browsers use different proprietary attributes to achieve this.
Netscape recognizes the BORDER attribute on
FRAMESET.
It can be set to 0, in which case the border will not be shown,
and the spacing will be set to zero.
Microsoft Internet Explorer recognizes the FRAMEBORDER and
FRAMESPACING
attributes on FRAMESET, but in some versions also on
FRAME for individual
frames. Both attributes must be set to 0.
So, the most widely supported way to display borderless frames is
<FRAMESET ... BORDER=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 FRAMESPACING=0>.
Note that these attributes are proprietary and not part of the HTML 4.0 specification. Also, removing the border around a frame makes it impossible to resize it, as this border is also used in most GUIs to change the size of the window.
The title displayed is the title of the frameset document
rather than the titles of any of the
pages within frames.
To change the title displayed, link to a new frameset document using
TARGET="_top" (replacing the entire frameset).
Netscape Navigator seems to round pixel-based frame dimensions to the nearest whole percentage, and to use those percentage-based dimensions when laying out the frames. Thus, frames with pixel-based dimensions will be rendered with a slightly different size than that specified in the frameset document. There is no way to prevent this behavior, and the rounding error will vary depending on the exact size of the browser window.
To accomodate this, you should design your site to adapt to variations in the browser's presentation. This is a good idea in general, but especially so in this situation.
The fundamental problem with the design of frames is that framesets create states in the browser that are not addressable. Once any of the frames within a frameset changes from its default content, there is no longer a way to address the current state of the frameset. It is difficult to bookmark - and impossible to link or index - such a frameset state. It is impossible to reference such a frameset state in other media. When the sub-documents of such a frameset state are accessed directly, they appear without the context of the surrounding frameset. Basic browser functions (e.g., printing, moving forwards/backwards in the browser's history) behave differently with framesets.
Furthermore, frames focus on layout rather than on information structure,
and many authors of framed sites neglect to provide useful alternative
content in the <NOFRAMES> element.
Both of these factors cause accessibility problems for browsers that differ
significantly from the author's expectations and for search engines.
For further discussion, see <URL:http://www.htmlhelp.com/design/frames/whatswrong.html>
For additions or omissions to this FAQ, please contact <darin@htmlhelp.com>.
All information contained herein was originally compiled by members of the Web Design Group, principally Arnoud "Galactus" Engelfriet, John Pozadzides, and Darin McGrew.
Additional input has been provided by Boris Ammerlaan, Lori Atwater, Alex Bell, Stan Brown, Roger Carbol, Alex Chapman, Jan Roland Eriksson, Jon Erlandson, Mark Evans, Alan Flavell, Lucie Gelinas, Bjoern Hoehrmann, Tina Marie Holmboe, Peter Jones, Nick Kew, Jukka Korpela, Simon Lee, Nick Lilavois, Neal McBurnett, Glen McDonald, Dan McGarry, Ken O'Brien, Timothy Prodin, Steve Pugh, Liam Quinn, Colin Reynolds, Kai Schätzl, Doug Sheppard, Sue Sims, Toby Speight, Warren Steel, Ian Storms, Peter Thomson, Daniel Tobias, and Diane Wilson.
Thanks everyone!
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