>>I use frames when it adds value to the user interface.
[snip]
>what is your opinion of frames? likes dislikes?
[snip]
One interesting use I found for frames is that it simplifies forcing a user
to view a site (esp. a secure site) under a certain context. For instance:
If your frameset (in index.cfm or whatever) is dynamically generated, you
can use a function like createUUID() to generate a unique name for your main
frame, e.g.
<frame name="#createUUID#" src="blargh.cfm">
Then that UUID can be assigned, either as a client variable or in a cookie,
and referenced by every page loaded into that frame from there on out. If
the UUID is different, the page isn't being viewed within the proper
context. (This is also a good tie back to the use of JS-created cookies in
letting CF determine whether JavaScript is enabled on the client
browser...JavaScript in the frameset sets a cookie, then ColdFusion in the
pages loaded into the frameset check to see whether the cookie exists.)
You can also use JavaScript in an individual framed page to ensure that it's
being loaded in the frame, rather than as TOP (I'm sure you've seen this
before) and reload the site from the root if it's not.
Frames are useful for hiding the URL of the current page from the address
line; this is useful when you're passing CFID & CFToken in the URL string,
as with FuseBox-style apps. This is obviously more of an aesthetic issue
than a security issue, as finding the 'real' URL is extremely trivial.
Framesets allow you to place an onUnload() handler in the FRAMESET tag which
deletes client variables immediately upon exiting the page; this is
impossible with a static page, as it would delete the variables every time
you navigate to a different page. **DOWNSIDE TO THIS METHOD**: Nut$crape
reloads the page whenever the user resizes the window, thus triggering the
onUnload() handler in the FRAMESET tag and hammering the client vars.
Framesets can contain JavaScript routines and variables that persist
throughout the application and can be referenced from any page loaded within
the frame, as with Colin Tucker's 'OmenTree' heirarchal navigation app.
Frames have their uses. Like almost anything else in HTML, they can also be
misused. Some people will never like them; then again, some people still
insist that every page should be compatible with Lynx. You'll never please
everyone.
Brandon Whitaker
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-------
"It'll get used by the same people using Opera. People dressed in black
wearing berets."
- Dave Watts, on Mozilla
"The net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it."
- John Gilmore
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you. God just sat on my Whoopee Cushion."
- Kibo
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