Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Eric Ladd
ISBN: 078971759x
Publication Date: 11/01/98

Note in Figure 7.11 that each frame initially has three buttons in it. The Set Initial Page button enables you to assign an existing document to that frame. Clicking the button enables you to browse to find the file. The New Page button clears out the frame and enables you to work the same as you would in the full FrontPage Editor window. You click this button if you have not yet prepared any content for the frame.

Another thing to notice is how the tabs near the bottom of the Editor window change. When you are working with a framed layout, you get two extra tabs: No Frames, to show you what your framed document will look like on a browser that doesn’t support frames, and Frames Page HTML, which contains all the <FRAMESET> tags that make the layout possible.

After you have a framed layout in place, you can start using the other options found under the Frames menu. The Split Frame option enables you to subdivide your selected frame (denoted by a blue outline) into two equal rows or columns. Choosing Delete Frame eliminates the selected frame and reduces the framed layout to whatever frames are left after the deletion. The Set Initial Page option repeats the functionality of the button bearing the same label. If you prefer to create the content for a frame in a full-sized window, you can choose the Open Page in a New Window option. The Save Page and Save Page As options enable you to save the content you’ve developed for a frame.

The last two options in the Frames menu enable you to alter properties of either the entire framed layout or one of the frames within the layout. Choosing the Frames Page Properties option opens the dialog box shown in Figure 7.12 where you can specify attributes of the whole layout, such as whether to display borders, how much spacing to use between frames, what kinds of margins to use, what to use as a background, and how to title the layout.

FIGURE 7.12  Because the framed layout is created by an HTML document, you can alter many of the same properties for the layout as you can for any document.

The Frame Properties option launches the dialog box shown in Figure 7.13. Here you can modify the attributes of the select frame, including whether the frame can be resized, whether it should have scrollbars, what its height and width should be, what margins should be used inside the frame, and what the frame’s initial page should be. A Frames Page button opens the Frames Page Properties dialog box you saw in Figure 7.12.

Allaire HomeSite

Allaire’s HomeSite tends to be focused on creating an HTML document at the source code level, enabling you to work directly with the HTML tags. HomeSite provides good support for creating a framed layout, including a wizard that walks you through the set up of the layout and then writes out the appropriate HTML tags that reproduce the layout on a browser screen.

FIGURE 7.13  Each frame in the layout has its own set of properties that you can tweak as needed.

Most of HomeSite’s frames support resides on the Frames toolbar, which is found on the Frames tab of the HomeSite SpeedBar (see Figure 7.14). The various buttons on the bar provide different levels of support, and you are free to choose whichever ones are best suited to your authoring preferences.

FIGURE 7.14  The HomeSite Frames toolbar gives you access to a Frame Wizard, dialog boxes that collect frame tag attributes, or just the frame tags themselves.

The leftmost button on the toolbar launches the HomeSite Frame Wizard. Like most wizards, the Frame Wizard takes you through a sequence of dialog boxes wherein you specify how you want your framed layout to be set up. After the wizard has all the information it needs, it writes the <FRAMESET> tags that create your desired layout. When you fire up the wizard, you’re first asked if you want to split the screen into rows or columns. With this information collected, the wizard gives you a preview of what your layout will look like (see Figure 7.15). In the same dialog box where you see the preview, you can also establish the properties of each of the individual frames, including its name, source document URL, margin width and height, whether scrollbars should be present, and whether the user should be able to resize the frame.

	You can also invoke the Frame Wizard by selecting File, New, and then selecting the Frame Wizard document.

FIGURE 7.15  HomeSite’s Frame Wizard is more flexible than the preset frames configurations you get with FrontPage.

After you set the parameters for each of the frames in your layout, click the Finish button to instruct HomeSite to create the <FRAMESET> and <FRAME> tags that will support the layout. HomeSite writes this code right into the main editing window.

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NOTE:  After you set up the <FRAMESET> and <FRAME> tags, you still need to create the files that will populate each frame.

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The Frame Wizard is HomeSite’s most automated form of frames support. Just to the right of the Frame Wizard button are three other buttons that open dialog boxes for setting up <FRAMESET>, <FRAME>, and <IFRAME> tags, respectively. If you’re the type of author who likes placing your own tags, but you don’t mind a little help setting up the attributes, then you’ll make use of these buttons. As Figure 7.16 shows, you can specify every attribute of the <IFRAME> tag from the dialog box and then click Apply to write the entire tag into your document.

The remaining five buttons on the toolbar place a tag in the document, after which it falls to you to go back and add in any attributes you need. The first four buttons place the <FRAMESET>, <FRAME>, <IFRAME>, and <NOFRAMES> tags, respectively, including closing tags where appropriate. The rightmost button on the toolbar adds a <BASE> tag to your document with the TARGET attribute so you can set up global targeting within the document.

Adobe PageMill

Frames are simple to construct using PageMill; the necessary frameset and HTML source code are transparently generated while you construct the frames using drag-and-drop techniques.

FIGURE 7.16  Other buttons on the Frames toolbar are more tag focused, enabling you to set up an entire tag in one step.

To build a framed document in PageMill, start with a blank page. Hold down the Ctrl key while dragging from one of the window margins. You’ll notice that, in effect, you drag a border across the page. You can create horizontal or vertical frame elements in this manner.