Setting the iframe Source to the Clicked HTML File

Learn how to set the iframe source to the clicked HTML file using PHP. Simplify your user experience by avoiding new page loads when navigating directories.
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Setting the iframe Source to the Clicked HTML File

When building a web application, setting up an efficient navigation method can significantly enhance the user experience. For instance, instead of allowing a new page to open every time a user clicks on an HTML file, you can set the file to load within an iframe. Here, we’ll cover how you can achieve this functionality using PHP and iframe.

How to List Directories in PHP

To dynamically change the source of an iframe based on user interaction, the first step is listing your directories through PHP. This will enable you to display clickable HTML files in your web directory.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In the code snippet above, scandir lists all files in the specified directory. The foreach loop iterates over these files, filtering out those with an .html extension. For each HTML file, an anchor tag is generated with an onclick event that calls a JavaScript function.

Setting the iframe Source Using JavaScript

Now, you need a JavaScript function to change the iframe source when a user clicks on an HTML file.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this example, the iframe with the ID content-frame starts with an empty src. The JavaScript function setIframeSource updates the src attribute of this iframe to match the file path of the clicked HTML file.

Bringing It All Together

To bring everything together, ensure that your PHP script is included in the HTML file precisely where you want the file list to appear. Whenever a user clicks on one of the HTML files, the JavaScript function is triggered, changing the iframe source and loading the selected file within the iframe, without opening a new page.

This method brings a seamless navigation experience to your web interface, keeping user interaction fluent and dynamic. It simplifies the workflow drastically as there’s no need for loading new pages or disrupting the user’s browsing context.