Chapter 5

The quick and wise have already noticed that we have cleared all frames and are updating the entire browser window. This has been another popular question in our mailbag.

To change the entire contents of the browser we want to again use the TARGET attribute. This attribute can use a specific frame's name, as seen in our previous chapters, or it can use one of four implict names that are already defined for us. Here we have used one of those implict names, _top.

<A HREF="/workshop/essentials/webmen/samples/Chapter5.htm" TARGET="_top">

The four implict names and their definitions are as follows:

_blank - Loads a page into a new window, opens a new browser.
_self - Default, load into current frame.
_parent - Used with nested frames. If the current frame is a child, then update the parent frame.
_top - Updates the whole browser window.

One last word of caution when using the TARGET attribute. A pitfall that we have seen people fall into is that when using a frame name they add an extention like HTM or HTML. This will actually cause the browser to use the _blank option and a new browser is opened, so stay alert when using frame names.