HTML Frames

With frames, several Web pages can be displayed in the same browser window.

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 HTML frameset Element

The frameset element holds two or more frame elements. Each frame element holds a separate document.

The frameset element states only HOW MANY columns or rows there will be in the frameset.

The HTML frame Element

The <frame> tag defines one particular window (frame) within a frameset.

In the example below we have 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 document "frame_a.htm" is put into the first column, and the 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>

Note: The frameset column size can also be set in pixels (cols="200,500"), and one of the columns can be set to use the remaining space, with an asterisk (cols="25%,*").

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

Tip: 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="noresize" to the <frame> tag.

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

Important: You cannot use the <body></body> tags together with the <frameset></frameset> tags! However, if you add a <noframes> tag containing some text for browsers that do not support frames, you will have to enclose the text in <body></body> tags! See how it is done in the first example below.

How to use the <noframes> tag
How to use the <noframes> tag (for browsers that do not support frames).

Nested framesets
How to create a frameset with three documents, and how to mix them in rows and columns.

Frameset with noresize="noresize"
How to use the noresize attribute. Move the mouse over the borders between the frames and notice that you cannot move the borders.

Navigation frame
How to make a navigation frame. The navigation frame contains a list of links with the second frame as the target. The file called "tryhtml_contents.htm" contains three links. The source code of the links:
<a href ="frame_a.htm" target ="showframe">Frame a</a><br>
<a href ="frame_b.htm" target ="showframe">Frame b</a><br>
<a href ="frame_c.htm" target ="showframe">Frame c</a>
The second frame will show the linked document.

Inline frame
How to create an inline frame (a frame inside an HTML page).

Jump to a specified section within a frame
Two frames. One of the frames has a source to a specified section in a file. The specified section is made with <a name="C10"> in the "link.htm" file.

Jump to a specified section with frame navigation
Two frames. The navigation frame (content.htm) to the left contains a list of links with the second frame (link.htm) as a target. The second frame shows the linked document. One of the links in the navigation frame is linked to a specified section in the target file. The HTML code in the file "content.htm" looks like this: <a href ="link.htm" target ="showframe">Link without Anchor</a><br><a href ="link.htm#C10" target ="showframe">Link with Anchor</a>.

HTML Frame Tags

Tag Description
<frameset> Defines a set of frames
<frame /> Defines a sub window (a frame)
<noframes> Defines a noframe section for browsers that do not handle frames
<iframe> Defines an inline sub window (frame)