Frame Targets

Support Key: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1.0|X1.1] [IE3A1|M|N2|O2.1|S1]
What is it?
Special Target Names
Tips & Tricks
Browser Peculiarities
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What is it?
Conventional behavior when clicking on a hyperlink or submitting a form was to have the result load on top of the current document in the browser window. With frames, we now have multiple documents in a single browser area. It makes sense to be able to address specific frames in a FRAMESET structure in such actions. The assignment of frame identity is accomplished via the NAME attribute in the FRAME element. The addressing of these frames occurs when a user initiates an action command with a TARGET attribute that specifies the NAME of a frame to use as a destination for its action.

The TARGET attribute is used by the A, AREA, BASE and FORM elements [Please see the pages for these elements to see examples of the attribute in use.] If the frame name specified does not exist, the action will load in a new browser window using the given frame name.
Note:
The window name specified by a TARGET attribute must begin with an alpha-numeric or underscore characters ("_") to be valid. All other window names should be ignored.
Special Target Names
TARGET="_blank"
This target will cause the link to always be loaded in a new blank window. This window is not named.
TARGET="_parent"
This target makes the link load in the immediate FRAMESET parent of this document. This defaults to acting like "_self" if the document has no parent.
TARGET="_search"
This target causes the link to load in the browser's Search pane. (Internet Explorer 5.0 and later.)
TARGET="_self"
This target causes the link to always load in the same window where the action originated. This is useful for overriding a globally assigned BASE target.
TARGET="_top"
This target makes the link load in the full body of the window. This defaults to acting like "_self" if the document is already at the top. It is useful for breaking out of an arbitrarily deep FRAME nesting.
Tips & Tricks Browser Peculiarities
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