Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Name

HTTP-EQUIV — NN all IE all HTML all

Synopsis

HTTP-EQUIV=”identifier"

Optional

When a server sends a document to the client with the HTTP protocol, a number of HTTP header fields are sent along, primarily as directives to the client about the content on its way. META elements can add to those HTTP headers when the HTTP-EQUIV attribute is assigned to a document. Browsers convert the HTTP-EQUIV and CONTENT attribute values into the HTTP response header format of "name: value" and treat them as if they came directly from the server.

Web standards define a long list of HTTP headers (see Webmaster in a Nutshell by Stephen Spainhour and Valerie Quercia, published by O’Reilly & Associates), but some of the more common values are shown in the following examples. You can have either the HTTDIRECTIONP-EQUIV or NAME attribute in a META element, but not both.

Example

<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" 
CONTENT="1,http://www.giantco.com/truindex.html">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-5">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="expires" CONTENT="Sun, 15 Jan 1998 17:38:00 GMT">

Value

Any string identifier.

Default

None.

Object Model Reference

IE

[window.]document.all.elementID.httpEquiv