Re: Frames - does anyone like them?

Paul Prescod wrote:
> Frames have their uses. But I wonder if they should be in _HTML_.
Whether to
> use frames or not is basically a design question, not  content
question. So
> "frames" are good, but <FRAME> is bad. In other words, Frames
should be
> specified in style sheets.

Fisher Mark wrote:
> Very good point -- Frames should be in style sheets. 
Unfortunately, I 
> haven't studied CSS yet -- any experts wish to speak up?

No expert, but disagree. "Design question" is irrelevant to where
frames belong. Document structure is itself a design of sorts. Frames
are more structure than presentation, and different presentation
styles can appear in different frames. Frames are not a style applied
to content, but rather containers for different content. Frames do
not belong in style sheets.

As a container, FRAME is a higher level of abstraction than BODY.
NetScape did a logical thing in keeping them out of the BODY
container, since they are in fact containers for other HTML
documents.

As for the trick of keeping some block of BODY content fixed as
opposed to scrollable, this could be considered a style of the block.
And so, as I suggested in another post, all we need is a noscroll
attribute for block elements in CSS1 and the problem is solved. Of
course this kind of control would certainly spawn some absurd pages.
But so what? Diversity is fun. Giving creative authors more powerful
tools of obfuscation will in no way force serious communicators to
use them.

Keep frames. Add a noscroll property to CSS1 blocks. Information is
needed but entertainment is craved.

David Perrell

Received on Thursday, 22 August 1996 17:11:50 UTC