Setting frame Property inspector options

Use this Property inspector to name a frame and to set borders and margins.

Setting a frame property overrides the setting for that property in a frameset. For example, setting border properties in a frame overrides the border properties set in the frameset.

To specify properties for the selected frame:

1. Name the frame:

   Frame Name is the name used by a link’s target attribute or by a script to refer to the frame.

   A frame name must be a single word; underscores (_) are allowed, but hyphens (-), periods (.), and spaces are not. A frame name must start with a letter (as opposed to a numeral). Frame names are case-sensitive. Don’t use terms that are reserved words in JavaScript (such as top or navigator) as frame names.

   TIP

   To make a link change the contents of another frame, you must name the target frame. To make it easier to create cross-frame links later, name each of your frames when you create it.

2. Change the following options as desired:

   Src specifies the source document to display in the frame. Click the folder icon to browse to and select a file.

   Scroll specifies whether scroll bars appear in the frame. Setting this option to Default doesn’t set a value for the corresponding attribute, allowing each browser to use its default value. Most browsers default to Auto, meaning that scroll bars appear only when there is not enough room in a browser window to display the full contents of the current frame.

   No Resize prevents visitors from dragging the frame borders to resize the frame in a browser.

   NOTE

   You can always resize frames in Dreamweaver; this option applies only to visitors viewing the frames in a browser.

   Borders shows or hides the borders of the current frame when it’s viewed in a browser. Selecting a Borders option for a frame overrides the frameset’s border settings.

   Border options are Yes (show borders), No (hide borders), and Default; most browsers default to showing borders, unless the parent frameset has Borders set to No. A border is hidden only when all frames that share the border have Borders set to No, or when the parent frameset’s Borders property is set to No and the frames sharing the border have Borders set to Default.

   Border Color sets a border color for all of the frame’s borders. This color applies to all borders that touch the frame, and overrides the specified border color of the frameset.

   NOTE

   There is an underlying logic to which frame borders have a given border color applied to them, but that logic is complex; it may be difficult to understand why certain borders change color when you specify a border color. For detailed information about the effects of specifying border colors, see a book on frames and framesets.

3. Set the following margin options if you wish (if margin options aren’t visible, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Property inspector):

   Margin Width sets the width in pixels of the left and right margins (the space between the frame borders and the content).

   Margin Height sets the height in pixels of the top and bottom margins (the space between the frame borders and the content).

   NOTE

   Setting the margin width and height for a frame is not the same as setting margins in the Modify > Page Properties dialog box.

Related topics

• Viewing and setting frame properties and attributes