HTML Class - Fall 2002

HTML Frames

With frames, you can display more than one HTML document in the same browser window. Each HTML document is called a frame, and each frame is independent of the others.

The disadvantages of using frames are:

• The web developer must keep track of more HTML documents
• It is difficult to print the entire page

The Frameset Tag

• The <frameset> tag defines how to divide the window into frames
• Each frameset defines a set of rows or columns
• The values of the rows/columns indicate the amount of screen area each row/column will occupy

The Frame Tag

• The <frame> tag defines what HTML document to put into each frame

In the example below there is a frameset with two columns. The first column is set to 25% of the width of the browser window. The second column is set to 75% of the width of the browser window. The HTML document "frame_a.htm" is put into the first column, and the HTML document "frame_b.htm" is put into the second column:

<frameset cols="25%,75%">
   <frame src="frame_a.htm">
   <frame src="frame_b.htm">
</frameset>

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

If a frame has visible borders, the user can resize it by dragging the border. To prevent a user from doing this, you can add noresize="true" to the <frame> tag.

Add the <noframes> tag for browsers that do not support frames.

Frame Tags