HTML links – Target attribute of anchor tag

As described in previous session, the Target attribute of <A> is most often used when dealing with frames. It specifies the window in which the document should be loaded. The TARGET attribute can take one of the six values below: (note the underscore for the first four)

• _blank: Indicates a new window.
• _parent: Specifies the parent frame which contains the source link.
• _self: The meaning is very much obvious. The new document is loaded in the same frame.
• _top: This indicates a new document window. It is a good way to break out of frames and load the document in the same window.
• frame-name: You can use this to specify in which frame the document should be loaded.
• RESOURCE WINDOW: This loads the document in a new browser window. This is same as _blank.

The links and their code are presented below. Click on the link to see how the TARGET attribute behaves.

<A HREF="test.html" TARGET="RESOURCE WINDOW">
Loads test.html in a new browser window</A>

Loads test.html in a new browser window

<A HREF="test.html" TARGET="_blank">
Loads test.html in a new browser window</A>

Loads test.html in a new browser window

<A HREF="test2.html" TARGET="_self">
Loads test2.html in this window</A>

Loads test2.html in this window

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