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Frames are used to divide a window into two or more scrollable sections. In each section different documents can be displayed or various parts of the same document can be linked together. Like any other HTML element each frame can be given a name, its dimensions can be set, its alignment can be defined, the borders and shades can be applied and finally a particular HTML file can be linked with it which is to be displayed. Apart from this some advanced operations such as defining the loading/unloading behavior, scroll behavior, style sheets etc. can be also performed on the frames.

HTML frames use the following attributes to behave in a particular manner and display the desired document:

• Name: It is used to link the frame to any addressable object. When a name is assigned to a frame then it can be targeted by the links in other documents. However it is not mandatory to use this attribute. By default all the windows are unnamed, but if you want to target the contents of the frame then the name attribute are necessary.

• Source: This attribute is used to display the desired HTML page in the frame.

• frameborder: This is used to set or unset the border between the frames. If the value of this attribute is 1 then a border will appear and if the value is 0 then there will be no border.

• marginwidth and marginheight: These two attributes are used to specify the frame margins both sideways and vertically respectively.

• noresize: It is used to restrict the end user from resizing the frame.

• scrolling: This one is used to define the scrolling mode of the frame. If its value is yes, then the frame will have a scroll bar. If the value is no, then the frame will have no scroll bar, and if its value is auto, then the frame will have the scroll bar only if the document size is larger than the frame.

Because of these attributes different types of frames can be created. For example:

• Static Frames: These types of frames are fixed and display only static documents. They are used to display that information which the user can see all the time, such as logos, copyrights, buttons, graphics etc. The user cannot affect the behavior of such frames by doing any activity.

• Live Frames: These frames responds according to the user’s input. They are very interactive in nature and generally contain interactive forms, videos, audio and multimedia content.

• Functional Table of Contents: These types of frames are used to display interactive table of contents on one side and when the user clicks on any topic the document linked to that link is displayed in the adjacent frame.

• Single Page Query and Answer Displays: These types of documents have two sections, one containing the query from which has to filled by the user and the other section displays the answers to the query interactively.

Apart from these, several other types of frames can be designed and customized using different attributes according to the requirements.

As discussed earlier, whenever the TARGET attribute is used to direct the output to a new window then the Window_name has to be specified. Whether the developer is targeting for the AREA element, BASE element or the FORM element, the window_name has to be used. A general rule with respect to the window_name says that it must begin with an alphabet. However there are some predefined special window_names which begins with an underscore sign ‘_’. Below is a list of such special window_names and their associated functions:

• _blank: When used, it directs the output to a new window. This name forces the target attribute to load the HTML document associated with the link in a separate unnamed window.

• _self: Whenever this is used the output is displayed in the same frame the user clicks in. In other words the linked document gets loaded in the same frame as the anchor. One crucial point to be noted is when the _self name is used it overrides the BASE target assigned globally.

• _parent: It can be used whenever the linked document has to be loaded into the immediate FRAMESET parent of the document. If there is no parent, then it works like the _self.

• _top: This will make the linked document to get loaded in a full browser window.

Preparing alternate document for the non-frame web browsers

In order to make the frames work properly it is essential that the web browser supports the frames. Sometimes it happens that the web client is incompatible with the frames or it has been configured not to load them. In that case an alternate document has to be prepared so that if the web browser cannot handle the frames then instead of showing an error it loads the alternate documents containing the information.

The alternate document can be prepared very easily with the help of the BODY element and the NOFRAMES tag which follows the outermost FRAMESET element. The content of the BODY element is ignored by those browsers which can read frames. Apart from this all the attributes of the NOFRAMES tag is also ignored.

Below is the HTML code which shows the usage of the NOFRAMES tag.

<HTML>

<frameset cols=”50%,50%”>
<frameset rows=”50%,50%”>
<frame src=”doc.html” >
<frame src=”doc1.html”>
</frameset>
<frameset>
<frame src=”doc2.html”>
<frame src=”doc3.html”>
<frame src=”doc4.html”>
</frameset>
</frameset>
<body>
<noframes>
This section is for those whose web browser is not compatible with frames. It will be ignored automatically if the web browser is set to read the frames. This is an excellent option to avoid any kind of errors.
</noframes>
</body>
</HTML>

As shown in the above code the NOFRAMES tag can be used at the end of the code with all the description and text which has to be displayed without the frames. Above the NOFRAMES tag, there is the normal HTML coding representing the use of nested frames and will be automatically considered when the web browser can support the frames.

One of the most basic elements of the HTML document is the frame. A frame is basically a device which allows you to open two or more pages in the same window. Mostly the frame concept is used in cases where you wish to split the window. As is the case with many websites, the left hand side is like a navigation strip, a separate page which is a tabulated list of the topics with the relevant links, while the right hand side shows the content related to those topics.

Reading this you might be misled into believing that there are two pages in the window but there are in fact three pages. One tends to forget there is one page which is holding both the pages. This page is called the ‘container’ page, which contains both the pages. All we need to do is open this page and both the other pages automatically open in this page. The format of this page is similar to any other pages.

The HTML frames concept is generally regarded as quite complicated and very hard for new users to grasp. There is an on-going debate among the champions and critics of frames. The critics feel that frames are associated with a few problems, which is why they wish new users to avoid them.

One popular opinion is that they interfere with the basic concept of the web. The web is ideally supposed to be a group of pages, each page with a separate URL and these pages are simply interlinked. On the other hand, frames allow number of pages to have the same URL and when one bookmarks any of these pages, they end up with the URL of the container page.

A second problem with the frameset pages is that they are not browser friendly. Although not a problem now but a bunch of earlier browsers could not access the framed pages. Even now, when such pages are opened on devices other than computers, like palmtops or phones, they do not allow the browser to resize them which makes page viewing cumbersome. Similar to the resizing issue is the printing problem. Browsers find it hard to print such pages and the prints are never satisfactory. There is also the general overall feel that such pages are hard to code especially be novice coders.

Arguably the biggest problem with frames is that they are not search engine friendly. Even search engines like Google do not go through the content of the internal pages and only read the content of the container page.

The champions of frames on the other hand feel the benefits they create are worth a few hassles and they mostly cite the example of inline frames. Inline frames are special frames which circumvent most of the aforementioned problems. Inline frames are also called floating frames. The basic difference between these and the conventional frames is that these pages open in your container page like images or tables would. The coding for these is also quite easy and they present no obvious problems.