HTML <object> Tag

The HTML <object> tag represents an embedded object in an HTML document.

Depending on the type of the resource, the <object> element will either be treated as an image, as a nested browsing context, or as an external resource to be processed by a plugin.

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

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

Syntax

The <object> tag is written as <object></object> with any contents enclosed between the start and end tags.

The <object> tag will usually have one or more attributes, such as the type attribute, or data attribute which determine the type of embedded content and any data that is required.

Like this:

The <object> tag can also have width and height attributes to determine the object's width and/or height.

Like this:

Examples

Embed Movie

Here, we use the <object> element to embed a Quicktime movie into the web page.

Embed Another Webpage

You can use the <object> element to insert another webpage within your document (this creates a nested browsing context).

Using the <param> Element

You can use the <param> element to pass parameters to your embedded objects.

Here, we use the <object> tag to embed a music file, and the <param> element to pass parameters to the <object> element. We tell it not to display audio controls (name="controller" value="true") and to start playing automatically (i.e. name="autoplay" value="false).

Attributes

Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.

The <object> element accepts the following attributes.

AttributeDescription
dataSpecifies the location of data to be used by the object. The value must be a valid URL.
typeSpecifies the object type as specified in the data attribute. Must be a valid MIME type.
typemustmatchThis attribute is used in order to to make it safer for authors to embed untrusted resources where they expect a certain content type. The attribute specifies that the resource specified by the data attribute is only to be used if the value of the type attribute and the Content-Type of the aforementioned resource match.

The typemustmatch attribute must only be used when both the type and data is also being used.

The typemustmatch is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either typemustmatch or typemustmatch="typemustmatch")..

Possible values:

  • [Empty String]
  • typemustmatch
nameAssigns the name of the object.
usemapSpecifies the name of an image map to use on this object.
formSpecifies the ID of a form to which this object belongs.

Possible values:

[The ID of a form element in the element's owner Document]
widthSpecifies the width, in pixels, to display the external content.

Possible values:

[Non-negative integer] (for example, 300)
heightSpecifies the height, in pixels, to display the external content.

Possible values:

[Non-negative integer] (for example, 150)

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <object> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handlers

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

Most event handler content attributes can be used on all HTML elements, but some event handlers have specific rules around when they can be used and which elements they are applicable to.

For more detail, see HTML event handler content attributes.