CSC 551: Web Programming Spring 2004: Basic HTML

CSC 551: Web Programming Spring 2004
Basic HTML
hypertext tags & elements text formatting lists, hyperlinks, images tables, frames
cascading style sheets inline, document, external
Hypertext & HTML

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the language for specifying the static content of Web pages
hypertext refers to the fact that Web pages are more than just text can contain multimedia, provide links for jumping within & without markup refers to the fact that it works by augmenting text with special symbols (tags) that identify structure and content type
HTML is an evolving standard (as new technology/tools are added)

HTML 1 (Berners-Lee, 1989): very basic, limited integration of multimedia
in 1993, Mosaic added many new features (e.g., integrated images) in 1994-96, Netscape & IE added many new, divergent features
HTML 2.0 (IETF, 1994): tried to standardize these & other features, but late HTML 3.2 (W3C, 1996): attempted to unify into a single standard HTML 4.0 (W3C, 1997): current standard
but didn't address newer technologies like Java applets & streaming video attempted to map out future directions for HTML, not just react to vendors
XHTML 1.0 (W3C, 2000): HTML 4.01 modified to conform to XML standards
2
Web development tools

many high-level tools exist for creating Web pages
e.g., Microsoft FrontPage, Netscape Composer, Adobe PageMill, Macromedia DreamWeaver, HotDog, also, many applications have "save to HTML" options (e.g., Word) for most users who want to develop basic, static Web pages, these are fine
assembly language vs. high-level language analogy

so, why are we learning low-level HTML using a basic text editor?
may want low-level control may care about size/readability of pages may want to "steal" page components and integrate into existing pages may want dynamic features such as scripts or applets
3
Tags vs. elements

HTML specifies a set of tags that identify structure and content type
tags are enclosed in < >
<img src="image.gif" /> specifies an image

most tags come in pairs, marking a beginning and ending <title> and </title> enclose the title of a page
an HTML element is an object enclosed by a pair of tags

<title>My Home Page</title> is a TITLE element <b>This text appears bold.</b> is a BOLD element <p>Part of this text is <b>bold</b>.</p> is a PARAGRAPH element that contains a BOLD element
HTML document is a collection of elements (text/media with context)
Structural elements
an HTML document has two main structural elements
HEAD contains setup information for the browser & the Web page
e.g., the title for the browser window, style definitions, JavaScript code,
BODY contains the actual content to be displayed in the Web page

<html>  -->
HTML documents begin and end with <html> and </html> tags Comments appear between  HEAD section enclosed between <head> and </head>
<head> <title>Title for Page</title> </head> <body> Text that appears in the page </body> </html>
BODY section enclosed between <body> and </body>
view page in browser

5
Text layout
<html>  -->
for the most part, layout of the text must be left to the browser
every sequence of whitespace is interpreted as a single space browser automatically wraps the text to fit the window size
can override some text layout

can cause a line break using the <br/> tag (no closing tag) can specify a new paragraph (starts on a new line, preceded by a blank line) using <p></p> can force a space character using the symbol for a non-breaking space:

</html>
Separating blocks of text

<html>  -->
can specify headings for paragraphs or blocks of text

<h1></h1> tags produce a large,
<head> <title>Blocks of Text</title> </head> <body> <h1>Major heading 1</h1> <p> Here is some text. </p> <h2>Subheading</h2> <p> Here is some subtext. </p> <hr/> <h1>Major heading 2</h1> <p> Here is some more text. </p> </body>
bold heading
<h2></h2> tags produce a slightly
smaller heading ... <h6></h6> tags produce a tiny heading
can insert a horizontal rule to divide sections

<hr/> draws line across window <hr width="50%" /> sets width <hr size=10 /> sets thickness
</html>
Aligning text
<html>  --> <head> <title>Text Alignment</title> </head> <body> <h1 style="text-align:center">Centered Heading</h1> <p> Here is some left-justified text (which is the default in HTML). </p> <p style="text-align:center"> Here is some centered text. </p> <div style="text-align:right"> <h2>Right-justified Heading</h2> <p>Here is some right-justified text.</p> </div> </body> </html>
can specify how elements should be aligned (default is left-justified)

utilize STYLE attribute of tag
to justify more than one element as a group, use DIV tags
ell elements enclosed in DIV are formatted similarly
Example Web page

consider the CSC 551 Home Page
page title and section information is centered paragraphs/sections for different topics (course description, required work, collaboration policy, schedule) headings to identify each section breaks and spaces used to align text, improve layout
Text styles
<html>  -->
<b> </b> specify bold <i> </i> specify italics <tt> </tt> specify typewriter-like
(fixed-width) font the font
<big> </big> increase the size of <small> </small> decrease the
size of the font
<sub> </sub> specify a subscript <sup> </sup> a superscript <p style="color:red"></p>
<span style="color:blue"> </span> for inline text
for paragraphs
Note: if elements are nested, the order of opening/closing is important! (LIFO)

10
More text grouping

<html> 
<pre></pre> specify text that is to
<head> <title>More Text Grouping</title> </head> <body> <p> <tt><pre> for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) { sum = sum + i; } </pre></tt> </p> <p> Eagleson's Law states that: <blockquote> Any code of your own that you haven't looked at for six or more months might as well have been written by someone else. </blockquote> </p> </body>
be displayed as is (line breaks and spacing are preserved)
useful for code or whenever you want text to fit a specific layout
<blockquote></blockquote>
specify text that is to be indented on both margins
useful for quotations or for indenting text in subsections

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</html>
Lists
<html>  <head> <title>Simple Lists</title> </head> <body> <p> <ol> <li>First thing. <li>Second thing. <li>Third thing. </ol> </p> <p> <dl> <dt>HTML <dd>HyperText Markup Language <dt>HTTP <dd>HyperText Transfer Protocol </dl> </p> </body> </html>
there are 3 different types of list elements

<ol></ol> specifies an ordered list
(using numbers or letters to label each list item)

<li> identifies each list item
can set type of ordering, start index <ul></ul> specifies unordered list
(using a bullet for each)
<li> identifies each list item
<dl></dl> specifies a definition list <dt> identifies each term <dd> identifies its definition view page in browser
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Hyperlinks
<head> <title>Hyperlinks</title> </head> <body> <p> <a href="http://www.creighton.edu"> Creighton University</a> <br> <a href="page07.html" target="_blank"> Open page07 in a new window</a> </p> </body> </html>
perhaps the most important HTML element is the hyperlink, or ANCHOR

<a href="URL"></a> where URL is the Web address of the page to be displayed when the user clicks on the link if the page is accessed over the Web, must start with http:// if not there, the browser will assume it is the name of a local file
<a href="URL" target="_blank"></a>

view page in browser causes the page to be loaded in a new window
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Hyperlinks (cont.)
<html>  <head> <title>Internal Links in a Page</title> </head> <body> <p align="center"> [ <a href="#HTML">HTML</a> | <a href="#HTTP">HTTP</a> | <a href="#IP">IP</a> | <a href="#TCP">TCP</a> ] </p> <p> Computer acronyms: <dl> <a name="HTML"></a><dt>HTML <dd>HyperText Markup Language <a name="HTTP"></a><dt>HTTP <dd>HyperText Transfer Protocol <a name="IP"></a><dt>IP <dd>Internet Protocol <a name="TCP"></a><dt>TCP <dd>Transfer Control Protocol </p> </body> </html>
for long documents, you can even have links to other locations in that document
<a name="ident"></a> where ident is a variable for identifying this location <a href="#ident"></a> will then jump to that location within the file <a href="URL#ident"></a> can jump into the middle of another file just as easily
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Images
can include images using IMG
by default, browsers can display GIF and JPEG files other image formats may require plug-in applications for display
<img src="filename" alt="alternate text" /> again, if file is to be accessed over the Web, must start with http:// (if not, will assume local file)
<html> 
<head> <title>Images</title> </head> <body> <div style="text-align:center"> <img src="http://www.creighton.edu/~davereed/Images/reed.gif" alt="Dave Reed" /> <p>Dave Reed</p> </div> </body> </html>
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Example Web page revisited

consider the CSC 551 Home Page again
bold, italics, and font size changes are used throughout to embellish text does not have colored fonts (use sparingly!) uses an unordered list to present the course goals has links to University page, department page, instructor page links to lecture notes bring up a new window
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Tables
tables are common tools for arranging complex layout on a Web page
a table divides contents into rows and columns by default, column entries are left-justified, so provide for alignment
page11.html
1/16/04 -->
<head> <title>Tables</title> </head> <body> <table> <tr> <td>foo</td> <td>bar</td> </tr> <tr> <td>bizbaz</td> <td>booboo</td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>
<table></table> specify a table
element
<tr></tr> specify a row in the table
<td></td> specify table data (i.e., each
column entry in the table)
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Layout in a table
can have a border on tables using the BORDER attribute

<table border=1>
<head> <title>Table Layout</title> </head> <body> <table border=1> <tr align="center"> <td>foo<br>foo</td> <td valign="top">bar</td> </tr> <tr> <td>bizbaz</td> <td>booboo</td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>
increasing the number makes the border thicker
can control the horizontal & vertical layout within cells

<td align="center"> <td align="right"> <td valign="top"> <td valign="bottom">
can apply layout to an entire row

<tr align="center"> <tr valign="top">
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Table width
<head> <title>Table Width</title> </head> <body> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td>left-most <td align="right">right-most</td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>
by default, the table is sized to fit the data can override & specify the width of a table relative to the page
<table width="60%">
useful for page footer set table width to 100% 1st column: left-justified 2nd column: right-justified
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Other table options

can control the space between cells & margins within cells
<table cellspacing=5> <table cellpadding=5>
<head> <title>Table Formatting</title> </head> <body> <table border=1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=8> <tr> <th>HEAD1</th> <th>HEAD2</th> <th>HEAD3</th> </tr> <tr> <td>one</td> <td>two</td> <td>three</td> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan=2 align="center"> four </td> <td colspan=2 align="center"> five </td> </tr> <tr> <td> six </td> <td> seven </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>
can add headings

<th> is similar to <td> but displays heading centered in bold
can have data that spans more than one column

<td colspan=2>
similarly, can span more than one row

<td rowspan=2>
20
Example Web page revisited

consider the CSC 551 Home Page again
section names, times, and rooms are aligned (3-column table) office hours are aligned, with "Office hours:" to the left (2-column table)
grading categories in a table with a border

class schedule in a big table week number centered in first column weekly topic displayed as a table within a table spring break & final exam are multi-column file name and date are displayed as footer
21
Frames
frames provide the ability to split the screen into independent pages
must define a FRAMESET that specifies the layout of the pages actual pages to be displayed must be in separate files
can divide vertically

<frameset cols="50%,50%">
page15.html 1/16/03 -->
<frameset cols="*,*"> <frame src="page01.html"> <frame src="page02.html"> </frameset> </html>
or, horizontally
<frameset rows="30%,*,*">
* causes the browser to divide the remaining space evenly
by default, each frame scrollable can drag the border to resize
can hide the border with frameset attribute frameborder=0

22
Frame controversy
frames are probably the most controversial HTML feature
some people love them, some people hate them
2 reasonable uses for frames

as a navigational aid: can divide the screen into a static menu frame and the main frame for navigating a site e.g., www.creighton.edu/~davereed as a means of separating program input from output: can divide the screen into a static man input form frame and the main frame for displaying output e.g., www.creighton.edu/~davereed/csc551/JavaScript/story.html
23
Menu frame
to create a menu, need to be able to direct links to the main frame
name the frames in the FRAMESET specify the frame name as TARGET in the link specify _top as target to return to top level of browser
<html>  <html>  <head> <title>Menu of Demos</title> </head> <body> Links to demo pages <p> <a href="page01.html" target="main">Demo 1</a><br/> <a href="page02.html" target ="main">Demo 2</a><br/> <a href="page03.html" target ="main"> Demo 3</a><br/> <a href="page04.html" target ="main"> Demo 4</a><br/> <a href="page05.html" target ="main"> Demo 5</a><br/> <a href="page06.html" target ="main"> Demo 6</a><br/> <a href="http://www.creighton.edu" target="_top" >Creighton</a> </p> </body> </html>
<head> <title>Demo Browser</title> </head> <frameset cols="30%,*"> <frame src="menu16.html" name="menu"> <frame src="page01.html" name="main"> </frameset> </html>
24
Content vs. presentation

most HTML tags define content type, independent of presentation
exceptions?
style sheets associate presentation formats with HTML elements

CSS1: developed in 1996 by W3C CSS2: released in 1998, but not fully supported by browsers
HTML style sheets are known as Cascading Style Sheets, since can be defined at three different levels 1. inline style sheets apply to the content of a single HTML element 2. document style sheets apply to the whole BODY of a document 3. external style sheets can be linked and applied to numerous documents
lower-level style sheets can override higher-level style sheets
25
Inline style sheets

Using the style attribute, can specify presentation style for a single HTML element
within tag, list sequence of property:value pairs
font-family:Courier,monospace font-style:italic font-weight:bold font-size:12pt font-size:large font-size:larger color:red color:#000080 background-color:white text-decoration:underline text-decoration:none text-align:left text-align:center text-align:right text-align:justify vertical-align:top vertical-align:middle vertical-align:bottom text-indent:5em text-indent:0.2in
26
<head> <title>Inline Style Sheets</title> </head> <body> <p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif; text-align:right">This is a right-justified paragraph in a sans serif font (preferably Arial), with some <span style="color:green">green text</span>. </p> <p>And <a style="color:red; text-decoration:none; font-size:larger;" href="page01.html">here</a> is a formatted link. </p> </body> </html>
Inline style sheets (cont.)

more style properties & values

margin-left:0.1in margin-right:5% margin:3em padding-top:0.1in padding-bottom:5% padding:3em border-width:thin border-width:thick border-width:5 border-color:red border-style:dashed border-style:dotted border-style:double border-style:none whitespace:pre list-style-type:square list-style-type:decimal list-style-type:lower-alpha list-style-type:upper-roman
<head> <title>Inline Style Sheets</title> </head> <body> <p>Here is an image <img src="reed.gif" alt="Dave Reed" style="margin-left:0.3in; margin-right:0.3in; vertical-align:middle; border-style:double; border-color:yellow"> embedded in text. </p> <ol style="list-style-type:upper-alpha"> <li> one thing <li> or another <ul style="list-style-type:square; whitespace:pre"> <li> with this <li> or that </ul> </ol> </body> </html>
27
Inline style sheets (cont.)

<html>  <head> <title> Inline Style Sheets </title> </head> <body> <table style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> <caption style="color:red; font-style:italic; text-decoration:underline"> Student data. </caption> <tr style="background-color:red"> <th> name </th> <th> age </th> </tr> <tr> <td> Chris Smith </td> <td> 19 </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Pat Jones </td> <td> 20 </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Doogie Howser </td> <td> 9 </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>
style sheets can be applied to tables for interesting effects
28
Document style sheets

inline style sheets apply to individual elements in the page
can lead to inconsistencies as similar elements are formatted differently e.g., might like for all H1 elements to be centered inline definitions mix content & presentation violates the general philosophy of HTML
alternatively, document style sheets allow for a clean separation of content and presentation
style definitions are placed in the HEAD of the page (within STYLE tags)
can apply to all elements, or a subclass of elements, throughout the page
29
Document style sheets

<head> <title>Document Style Sheets</title> <style type="text/css"> h1 {color:blue; text-align:center} p.indented {text-indent:0.2in} </style> </head> <body> <h1>Centered Title</h1> <p class="indented">This paragraph will have the first line indented, but subsequent lines will be flush.</p> <p>This paragraph will not be indented. </p> <h1>The End</h1> </body> </html>
document style sheets ensure that similar elements are formatted similarly
can even define subclasses of elements and specify formatting
p.indented defines subclass of
paragraphs
inherits all defaults of <p> adds new features
to specify this newly defined class, place class="ID" attribute in tag
note how "clean" the BODY is
30
Document style sheets (cont.)

<html>  <head> <title> Inline Style Sheets </title> <style type="text/css"> table {font-family:Arial,sans-serif} caption {color:red; font-style:italic; text-decoration:underline} th {background-color:red} </style> </head> <body> <table> <caption> Student data. </caption> <tr><th> name </th> <th> age</th></tr> <tr><td> Chris Smith </td> <td> 19 </td></tr> <tr><td> Pat Jones </td> <td> 20 </td></tr> <tr><td> Doogie Howser </td> <td> 9 </td></tr> </table> </body> </html>
document style sheets are especially useful in formatting tables effectively separates content from presentation what if you wanted to rightjustify the column of numbers? what if you changed your mind?
31
Pseudo-elements
<html>  <head> <title>Title for Page</title> <style type="text/css"> a {color : red; text-decoration : none; font-size : larger} a:visited {color : black} a:active {color : orange} a:hover {color : blue} p:first-letter {font-size : large; color : white; background-color : darkblue} </style> </head> <body> <p>Welcome to my Web page. I am so happy you are here. </p> <p>Be sure to visit <a href="http://www.cnn.com">CNN</a> for late-breaking news. </p> </body> </html>
pseudo-elements are used to address sub-parts of elements

can specify appearance of link in various states
:visited :active :hover
can specify format of first line in page or paragraph

:first-line
can specify format of first letter in page or paragraph

:first-letter
Danger : changing the look of familiar elements is confusing Careful : current browsers do not support all CSS2 features
32
External style sheets

modularity is key to the development and reuse of software
design/implement/test useful routines and classes package and make available for reuse saves in development cost & time central libraries make it possible to make a single change and propogate
external style sheets place the style definitions in separate files

multiple pages can link to the same style sheet, consistent look across a site possible to make a single change and propagate automatically represents the ultimate in content/representation separation
33
Modularity & style sheets

<html>  Dave Reed 1/16/04 --> h1 {color : blue; text-align : center} p.indented {text-indent:0.2in}
<head> <title>Title for Page</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="myStyle.css" title="myStyle"> </head> <body> <h1>Centered Title</h1> <p class="indented">This paragraph will have the first line indented, but subsequent lines will be flush.</p>
ideally, the developer(s) of a Web site would place all formatting options in an external style sheet all Web pages link to that same style sheet for a uniform look
simplifies Web pages since only need to specify structure/content tags
<p>This paragraph will not be indented. </p>

<h1>The End</h1> </body> </html>
34
Web rules of thumb

HTML provides for lots of neat features, but just because you can add a feature doesn't mean you should!
don't add features that distract from the content of the page
use color & fonts sparingly and be careful how elements fit together
e.g, no purple text on a pink background, no weird fonts
use images only where appropriate
e.g., bright background images can make text hard to read e.g., the use of clickable images instead of buttons or links can slow access
e.g., font size may be adjusted by viewer, window constrained
don't rely on window or font size for layout dont be annoying
e.g., no pop-up windows, excessive advertising, silly music
break large document into smaller or provide a menu (either internal or frame) stick to standard features and test using both IE and Netscape utilize style sheets to make changes easy & ensure consistency
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CSC 551: Web Programming Spring 2004

cascading style sheets inline, document, external

Hypertext & HTML

HTML is an evolving standard (as new technology/tools are added)

Web development tools

assembly language vs. high-level language analogy

Tags vs. elements

<img src="image.gif" /> specifies an image

an HTML element is an object enclosed by a pair of tags

HTML document is a collection of elements (text/media with context)

BODY contains the actual content to be displayed in the Web page

1/16/04 --> -->

BODY section enclosed between <body> and </body>

view page in browser

can override some text layout

view page in browser

Separating blocks of text

can specify headings for paragraphs or blocks of text

<h2></h2> tags produce a slightly

smaller heading ... <h6></h6> tags produce a tiny heading

can insert a horizontal rule to divide sections

view page in browser

can specify how elements should be aligned (default is left-justified)

to justify more than one element as a group, use DIV tags

ell elements enclosed in DIV are formatted similarly

view page in browser

Example Web page

can specify styles for fonts

(fixed-width) font the font

<big> </big> increase the size of <small> </small> decrease the

size of the font

<sub> </sub> specify a subscript <sup> </sup> a superscript <p style="color:red"></p>

<span style="color:blue"> </span> for inline text

view page in browser

Note: if elements are nested, the order of opening/closing is important! (LIFO)

More text grouping

<pre></pre> specify text that is to

be displayed as is (line breaks and spacing are preserved)

specify text that is to be indented on both margins

useful for quotations or for indenting text in subsections

view page in browser

there are 3 different types of list elements

(using numbers or letters to label each list item)

(using a bullet for each)

<li> identifies each list item

perhaps the most important HTML element is the hyperlink, or ANCHOR

<a href="URL" target="_blank"></a>

view page in browser

view page in browser

Example Web page revisited

<html> <!-- Dave Reed

<table></table> specify a table

<td></td> specify table data (i.e., each

column entry in the table)

view page in browser

can have a border on tables using the BORDER attribute

increasing the number makes the border thicker

can control the horizontal & vertical layout within cells

view page in browser

<frameset cols=","> <frame src="page01.html"> <frame src="page02.html"> </frameset> </html>