Contents Previous Chapter Next Chapter
9. Frame
This chapter explains how to make frames and set properties of each frame. Namo WebEditor provides a frameset list, which contains several commonly used frameset templates that are commonly used. This frameset list will help you design well-organized Web pages.
In some Web pages, the document window is divided vertically or horizontally into several regions, each of which displays the corresponding HTML Web document within its allocated window space. We call each region a frame. In general, a frame shares the entire document window with other frames but displays a Web page that is different from others. Using frames, we can display many different Web pages simultaneously and present a group of Web pages in a systematic way.
The following figure shows an example of dividing the whole window into frames.
frame |
|
frame |
frame |
To create a frame structure, we need a main HTML document that specifies the arrangement, the identification, the size, and the properties of each frame. We call this document the frameset file. For example, in the figure above, we need four HTML documents, three for the frames and one for the frameset. The frameset file is the only file we need to browse to display all the frames.
[Frame - New Frameset...]
Use this menu to create an HTML document (frameset) that consists of several frames. This menu provides many commonly used frameset templates, so it is very useful when you initially design a Web page with multiple frames. You can also use the [Frame - Split Frame Horizontally / Split Frame Vertically] menu to add a new frame to the current page.
When the menu is selected, the [New] dialog box appears. In this dialog box, a number of commonly used frameset templates are enumerated. When the selection bar is placed on an item in the template list, the description and the shaping of the template are shown in the right. Thus, you can preview each of the items and choose the item you want. Select the item with the mouse and click the [OK] button. The corresponding frameset will be displayed in the document window.
.gif)
[Frame - New Page] <Ctrl+Shift+N>
This command removes all the contents of the current frame and starts with an empty document. The New Page command will initialize only the current frame but does not affect the other frames in the current frameset.
If the current frame has been changed since it was last saved, you are asked whether to save changes or not before removing the current contents.
[Caution] The New Page command is similar to the New command in the [File] menu in that a new document is begun. However, the two commands have different purposes. The New command is normally used to open a new document window and create a new document, while the New Page command initializes only one frame among the frames in the current frameset and does not open a new document window.
[Frame - Open Page...] <Ctrl+Shift+O>
This command opens an existing HTML document as the contents of the current frame. The command is commonly used when you want to use an already prepared document for the current frame.
- Move the cursor to the frame into which the opened document is placed.
- Select [Frame - Open Page]. The [Open] dialog box appears.
- Select the file to open and click the [OK] button.
- The contents of the selected document is shown in the current frame.
[Caution] You may have to change the properties of the opened document, because the Namo WebEditor only reads the document into the frame but does not appropriately change the document properties.
[Frame - Save Frameset] <Ctrl+Shift+S>
This command saves the current frameset document. The frameset is the main HTML file in the frame structure and contains important information, such as the number and the arrangement of frames, the file name, the size, the properties of each frame, and so on.
Therefore, if you have changed the size or the arrangement of frames, you should save the frameset to store the changed information. However, saving the frameset does not mean that each frame in the frameset is automatically saved to the corresponding file. If you have changed the contents of a frame, you must save that frame by hand.
[Caution] Since a frameset file is also an HTML file having .html or .htm extension, distinction between a frameset file and an ordinary HTML file is not possible from file names. You should use a distinct name for frameset files, such as Frame1.html or Frame2.html.
[Frame - Save Framset As]
This command saves the current frameset as another file having a new name. The new name is also used in the current document tab. The old frameset file is not affected and is preserved as it was.
[Caution] The Save Frameset As command changes only the name of the frameset file and has no effect on the name of each frame file in the frameset. To change the name of a frame, use [File - Save Frame As].
[Frame - Save All]
This command saves not only the current frameset file but all the frame files in the frameset. However, it does not save files opened in other document windows.
If the frameset file or one of the frame files is saved for the first time, the [Save As] dialog box appears for the file and you are prompted to enter a new file name.
[Caution] The [Frame - Save All] command saves only the frameset and frame files within the current document window tab; the [File - Save All] command saves all the files opened in WebEditor.
[Frame - Print Frameset...] <Ctrl+Shift+P>
This command prints the display of the current frameset or print to a file. The command prints the display up to only one page, so how much of the frameset content is printed depends on the size of the print paper. The command is generally used to print the outline of the frameset. On the other hand, if you want to print the contents of each frame, you should use the [File - Print...] menu.
The [Print Frameset...] command can be used only when the default printer is specified.
[Frame - Print Preview]
Use this command to preview the print output of the current frameset at the display screen. The [Print Preview] command is used to verify the print output of the current frameset in advance and correct the whole outline before the final print. In the preview window, you can easily check the output using the Zoom In and the Zoom Out buttons.
The [Print Preview] command can be executed only when the default printer is specified. In Windows 95 and NT, the default printer can be specified even if the system has no printer.
_i.gif)
[Frame - Split Frame Horizontally]
Use the [Split Frame Horizontally] command to split the current frame horizontally into two upper and lower frames. This command adds a new empty frame under the current frame. So, after executing the command, the contents being edited and the cursor are placed in the upper frame. If there is no frameset in the current document window, the command creates a new frameset for the window. Each of the two frame acts independently and can be edited in the same way as you do for an ordinary HTML document.
_2.gif)
[Frame - Split Frame Vertically]
Use the Split Frame Vertically command to split the current frame vertically into left and right frames. This command adds a new empty frame to the right of the current frame. Therefore, after the command is executed, the contents being edited and the cursor are placed in the left frame. If there is no frameset in the current document window, the command creates a new frameset for the window. Each of the two frames acts independently and can be edited in the same way as you do an ordinary HTML document.
_1.gif)
[Frame - No Frames Message]
Select this menu to edit the "No frame" message, which is displayed instead of the contents of the frames when the document is accessed by a Web browser that does not support frames. In those browsers (such as Linx), neither the frames nor the frameset is shown--only the "No frame" message appears. You can edit the message directly or add other HTML documents to the message document. After you finish the editing job, you can return to the framed window by selecting [Frame - No Frames Message].
Since the "No frame" message is stored in the frameset file, you should save the frameset file after editing the message.
[Frame - HTML Source...]
This command shows the HTML source of the current frameset document. The frameset document contains key information about the frames, such as the number and the arrangement of the frames, the size and the properties of each frame, and the "No frame" message. The HTML source of each frame can be shown by selecting the [View - HTML Source...] menu.
When you select the [Frame - HTML Source...] menu, a window that displays the HTML source of the frameset appears. When the [Show Color Coding] option is marked, the Namo WebEditor displays the source using colors to help you distinguish HTML tags from other contents. This coloring may take a somewhat long time, especially when the source is large.
.gif)
(14) Frameset Document Properties...
[Frame - Frameset Document Properties...]
Use this menu to specify the properties of the frameset document. Do not confuse this menu with the [Format - Document...] menu, which is used to specify the properties of the current frame document. When the [Frame - Frameset Document Properties...] menu is selected, the [Document Properties] dialog box appears. For details about how to specify the properties in this dialog box, refer to section 6-(6) of this manual.
.gif)
[Caution] [Frameset Document Properties] cannot change the properties of each frame document in the current frameset. If you want to change the properties of an individual frame, move the cursor to the frame and use the [Format - Document...] menu.
[Frame - Frame Properties...] <Ctrl+Shift+R>
Use this menu to specify the properties of the current frame, such as the size, the margin, the name, and so on. When the [Frame - Frame Properties...] menu is selected, the [Frame Properties] dialog box pops up.
.gif)
Source
This field specifies the path of the current frame document. You can specify another existing document path in this field. The inputted document is used for the current frame. To simply change the name of the current document, use [File - Save Frame As...].
Name
This field specifies the name of the current frame. Apart from the path name, frames can have a "name" to be used to help identify a frame in the frameset document.
Layout
Sets the width and the height of the current frame. The width and height values can be entered according to the following units.
"*(relative)"
Use this unit to specify the frame size relative to the size of other frames. For example,
there are two vertical frames in a frameset and that the widths of the frames are set to 1
and 2 in "*(relative)," respectively. Accordingly, the first frame occupies 1/3 of the
whole window width and the other occupies the remaining 2/3.
%
Use this unit to specify the frame size by percentage (assuming the whole window size
corresponds to 100). When the sum of all the sizes of the frames exceeds or falls short of
100%, the size of each frame is interpreted proportionally so that the sum corresponds to
the whole window size.
pixel
Use this unit to assign the frame a fixed size in pixels. For example, when you specify
100 pixels, the frame size becomes exactly 100 pixels. When all the frame sizes are
specified in pixels and the sum of them exceeds the window size of the browser, the
browser cannot display the frames properly. We recommend that you specify at least the
size of one frame using "*(relative)".
Margin
Width:
Sets the left margin in the frame. The unit is pixels.
Height:
Sets the upper margin in the frame. The unit is pixels.
Options
Resizable
Check this option to allow the user to change frame size by dragging the mouse while
holding down the button on a border. When this option is off, the frame size is fixed.
Scrollbars
Select whether or not to enable the scrollbar. The choices are "yes", "no," and "auto."
- Yes: Always enables the scrollbar regardless of the size of the contents.
- No: No scrollbar, regardless of the size of the contents.
- Auto: Enables the scrollbar only when the size of the contents goes beyond the current frame size.
Frameset
Border Thickness
Set the border thickness between neighboring frames in pixels. When set to zero, the
border will not be seen in a Web browser, whereas a minimal border is displayed in
WebEditor.
[File - Save Frame]
This command saves the frame document where the cursor is currently located. If the frame is saved for the first time, the [Save As] dialog box appears and you are prompted to enter a new file name. Otherwise, the previous file name continues to be used.
[File - Save Frame As...]
This command saves the current frame document as another file having a different name. When the [File - Save Frame As...] menu is selected, the [Save As] dialog box appears. The usage of this menu is the same as with the [File - Save As...] menu. The only difference is that the [File - Save Frame As...] menu is activated only when the current document is a frame.