HTML <Object> Tag

Definition

The <object> tag is a container used to embed an external resource. The resource can be an image, nested HTML, or a resource handled by a plugin.

Example

<!--Embed an image:-->
<object
  data="https://res.cloudinary.com/thewebmaster/image/upload/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_300/image/google-update-march-2017.jpg"
  width="300"
  height="188"
></object>

<!--Embed a HTML page:-->
<object
  data="https://www.thewebmaster.com/"
  width="500"
  height="200"
></object>

<!--Embed a movie file:-->
<object
  data="https://file-examples-com.github.io/uploads/2020/03/file_example_WEBM_1920_3_7MB.webm"
  width="250"
  height="200"
></object>

Usage

• Both the opening and closing tags are required.
• The <object> tag must specify at least one type attribute and one data attribute.

Attributes

The Object element supports the Global Attributes, as well as the following:

• data

  The data attribute specifies the URL of the resource. At least one data attribute must be specified.

• form

  The form attribute specifies the form ID to which the object belongs to. The form ID must be an ID of an element in the same document.

• height

  The height attribute specifies the height of the object in pixels.

• name

  The name attribute specifies the name for the object.

• type

  The type attribute specifies the type of resource. At least one type attribute must be specified.

• typemustmatch

  The typemustmatch attribute is a boolean that indicates if the type attribute and the actual content type of the resource must match before being displayed.

• usemap

  The usemap attribute specifies the name of a client-side image map to be used with the object. This takes the form of a # followed by the value of the name attribute of a <map> element.

• width

  The width attribute specifies the width of the object in pixels.

Best Practices

• There are better ways to embed most items. For example:
  • To embed an image use the <img> tag.
  • To embed HTML, use the <iframe> tag.
  • To embed a video, use the <video> tag.
  • To embed audio, use the audio tag.
• When embedding resources from untrusted origins it is advisable to use the typemustmatch attribute to avoid an attacker being able to use a plugin mechanism to run arbitrary scripts.

Specification

• HTML Living Standard Specification
• HTML5 Specification

Browser Support

Desktop

Mobile