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HTML <object> Tag


Example

How to use the <object> element to embed a Flash file:

<object width="400" height="400" data="helloworld.swf"></object>
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The <object> tag defines an embedded object within an HTML document. Use this element to embed multimedia (like audio, video, Java applets, ActiveX, PDF, and Flash) in your web pages.

You can also use the <object> tag to embed another webpage into your HTML document.

You can use the <param> tag to pass parameters to plugins that have been embedded with the <object> tag.


Browser Support

Element
<object> Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Tips and Notes

Note: An <object> element must appear inside the <body> element. The text between the <object> and </object> is an alternate text, for browsers that do not support this tag.

Tip: For images use the <img> tag instead of the <object> tag.

Tip: At least one of the "data" or "type" attribute MUST be defined.


Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

Some HTML 4.01 attributes are not supported in HTML5.

The "form" attribute is new in HTML5.

In HTML5, objects can be used and submitted in forms.

In HTML5, objects can no longer appear inside the <head> element of a document.



Attributes

Attribute Value Description
align top
bottom
middle
left
right
Not supported in HTML5.
Specifies the alignment of the <object> element according to surrounding elements
archive URL Not supported in HTML5.
A space separated list of URL's to archives. The archives contains resources relevant to the object
border pixels Not supported in HTML5.
Specifies the width of the border around an <object>
classid class_ID Not supported in HTML5.
Defines a class ID value as set in the Windows Registry or a URL
codebase URL Not supported in HTML5.
Defines where to find the code for the object
codetype media_type Not supported in HTML5.
The media type of the code referred to by the classid attribute
data URL Specifies the URL of the resource to be used by the object
declare declare Not supported in HTML5.
Defines that the object should only be declared, not created or instantiated until needed
form form_id Specifies one or more forms the object belongs to
height pixels Specifies the height of the object
hspace pixels Not supported in HTML5.
Specifies the whitespace on left and right side of an object
name name Specifies a name for the object
standby text Not supported in HTML5.
Defines a text to display while the object is loading
type media_type Specifies the media type of data specified in the data attribute
usemap #mapname Specifies the name of a client-side image map to be used with the object
vspace pixels Not supported in HTML5.
Specifies the whitespace on top and bottom of an object
width pixels Specifies the width of the object

Global Attributes

The <object> tag also supports the Global Attributes in HTML.


Event Attributes

The <object> tag also supports the Event Attributes in HTML.


Related Pages

HTML tutorial: HTML Object Element

HTML DOM reference: Object Object


Default CSS Settings

Most browsers will display the <object> element with the following default values:

object:focus {
  outline: none;
}