How frames and framesets work

A frame is a region in a browser window that can display an HTML document independent of
whats being displayed in the rest of the browser window. Frames provide a way to divide a
browser window into multiple regions, each of which can display a different HTML document.
In the most common use of frames, one frame displays a document containing navigation
controls, while another frame displays a document with content
A frameset is an HTML file that defines the layout and properties of a set of frames, including
the number of frames, the size and placement of the frames, and the URL of the page that
initially appears in each frame. The frameset file itself doesnt contain HTML content that
displays in a browser, except in the noframes section; the frameset file simply provides
information to the browser about how a set of frames should look and what documents should
appear in them.
To view a set of frames in a browser, enter the URL of the frameset file; the browser then opens
the relevant documents to display in the frames. The frameset file for a site is often named
index.html, so that it displays by default if a visitor doesnt specify a filename.
The following example shows a frame layout consisting of three frames: one narrow frame on
the side that contains a navigation bar, one frame that runs along the top, containing the logo and
title of the website, and one large frame that takes up the rest of the page and contains the main
content. Each of these frames displays a separate HTML document.

Frame layout

In this example, the document displayed in the top frame never changes as the visitor navigates
the site. The side frame navigation bar contains links; clicking one of these links changes the

content of the main content frame, but the contents of the side frame itself remain static. The
main content frame on the right displays the appropriate document for the link the visitor clicks
on the left.
A frame is not a file; its easy to think of the document that currently appears in a frame as an
integral part of the frame, but the document isnt actually part of the frame. The frame is a
container that holds the document.
Note:
A page refers either to a single HTML document or to the entire contents of a browser window
at a given moment, even if several HTML documents appear at once. The phrase a page that
uses frames, for example, usually refers to a set of frames and the documents that initially
appear in those frames.
A site that appears in a browser as a single page comprising three frames actually consists of at
least four HTML documents: the frameset file, plus the three documents containing the content
that initially appears in the frames. When you design a page using framesets in Dreamweaver,
you must save each of these four files in order for the page to work properly in the browser.