Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Frame Function and Appearance

By default, frames are separated by borders with 3-D beveled edges, and each frame has a scrollbar if its contents do not fit in their entirety. This section looks at the attributes that give you greater control over the display and function of frames.

Frame Borders and Spacing

By default, framed documents display with a 3-D border between each frame. These borders visually divide the sections and also serve as a handle for resizing. The HTML 4.01 specification allows for borders to be controlled only at the frame level (in the <frame> tag). However, browsers also support the nonstandard method of setting borders and border thicknesses for the whole page in the <frameset> tag.

Specifying borders can be unpredictable because Internet Explorer and Navigator developed their own methods for doing things early on. This has improved somewhat now that both are making an effort to be standards-compliant. It is still best to experiment to get the effect you want, and be sure to do plenty of testing (including in older browsers).

Frameset borders

Use the frameborder attribute in the <frameset> tag to turn the 3-D border on and off for all the frames on the page. Its values are 1 (on, the default) and 0 (off). For early versions of Navigator (pre-6), Netscape’s documentation calls for the values yes (on) and no (off); however, in my experience, the traditional 1 and 0 values seem to work as far back as Navigator 3.0.

Turning the frameborder off removes only the ...