Links to Multiple Frames
It is not uncommon for the navigation bar in a frameset to contain links, or icons, that must load documents into two or more other frames of the frameset at the same time. For a single frame, the standard HTML link facilities work fine, since they let you specify a target frame with nothing more than plain attributes. But the attribute technique doesn’t do the job for controlling the content of multiple targets. Scripting comes to the rescue, with a few different ways to accomplish the same goal:
Invoke a function from the element’s
onClick
event handler to control both framesUse a
javascript:
pseudo-URL to invoke a function to control both framesUse the default link for one frame and the
onClick
event handler for the other
The first two choices require defining a JavaScript function that loads the desired documents into their target frames. Such a function might look as follows:
function loadFrames() { parent.main.location.href = "section2.htm" parent.instructions.location.href = "instrux2.htm" return false }
You can then create a link that invokes the function for browsers with JavaScript turned on or that at least links to the main frame content if JavaScript is turned off:
<A HREF="section2.htm" TARGET="main" onClick="return loadFrames()">...</A>
The loadFrames()
function returns
false
when it is done. This forces the
onClick
event handler to return
false
as well, which preempts the actions of the
HREF
and TARGET
attributes (when JavaScript is turned on). ...
Get Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.