Use Target attributes to direct pages

Generally, a hyperlink reference replaces the current page with the page where the hyperlink is anchored. The TARGET attribute, however, can be used to direct where this new page appears. If you've worked with frames, you're probably already aware of this capability. For those that aren't, here are the values and their behaviors.

_blank Loads the designated document in a new, unnamed window
_self Loads the document in the same frame as the element that refers to this target
_parent Loads the document into the immediate frame-set parent of the current frame. If there is no parent, it works the same as _self
_top Loads the document into the full, original window (thus canceling all other frames)

Since the rules that govern these values are self-evident, here are a couple of caveats you should follow:

  1. Even if a specific hyperlink doesn't specify a target, it might be defaulting to the TARGET attribute set in the BASE element higher up in the page
  2. If you target an unknown frame in frames, the specification says that the user agent (in this case, the browser), should create a new window and frame, assign the new frame to the targeted frame's name, and then load the document into that frame.

If you think you're targeting a frame for loading a specific document but a new window keeps appearing, you will know where to go to find the problem.