The HTML object tag embeds various file types into web pages, without requiring the browser or HTML language to recognize the object’s format. It was created to include existing and future media types, avoiding the need for format-specific tags. Parameters like data, codebase, and type define the plug-in, server, or program necessary to display the object. Additional parameters like width, height, and stand text can be used to determine formatting and other attributes.
In HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the object tag is used to embed a file type, such as an image, video, web page, or applet, into a web page so that it is displayed correctly. The HTML object tag is a mechanism that was specifically designed to allow a generic object to be included in an HTML document without requiring the browser or the HTML language to be aware of the object’s format or content. Through the use of various parameters — such as data, codebase and type — it is possible to define the plug-in, the server or the program necessary to display the HTML object and, with the param option, it is possible to decode any information additional applications, including a file name, password, or screen resolution. With the inclusion of the HTML object tag in the HTML language standard, other tags that were previously used to define certain object formats have been depreciated to create more uniform code.
The HTML object tag was created and added to the HTML language specification version 4 as a generic mechanism for including currently existing media formats and files, as well as creating a framework for including any future types of new media. Technically, the HTML object tag can be used to insert an image into a website, just like the img tag, or to embed video, music, or a web-based application. The reason the tag was originally created was to avoid situations like the HTML applet tag, which is a whole language tag that can only be used to embed a Java® applet into a website. To avoid one day having to add additional format-specific tags for media types that may not have been invented yet, a single generic object tag was created.
There are many ways to use the HTML object tag. At the most basic level, it can be used to define a file and thus the format or file type, as might be the case with an image. If the type of object is recognized by the web browser, the browser or its plug-ins can take over rendering of the object. Alternatively, the tag’s codebase, classid, and codetype parameters can be used to define the location of an application or resource that can interpret the object’s data. This means that if a new type of video format is placed on a website, the location of the decoder can be included in the parameters of the object, allowing the object to be easily decoded and displayed without the need for JavaScript® or other elements of external language.
In addition to the main functionality of the HTML object tag, other parameters can be used to determine formatting and other attributes. The width and height of an object can be defined so that the rest of the page can be formatted correctly without loading the object first. Stand text can be defined so that the viewer of a website can see text in the subject area when loading. You can place any number of param tags inside HTML object tags so that you can define additional information that is useful to the target decoding application.
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