What is the best method for loading multiple HTML files into a Div container?

Question

What is the best method for loading multiple HTML files into a Div container?

Recently, I made the decision to improve the look of an online manual I have been working on for my company by incorporating Bootstrap. The manual is structured with a tree-view that contains titles linking to HTML files with information and CSS stylesheets. Initially, I loaded this content into an iframe, but found it problematic when applying CSS. Therefore, I have shifted to using DIVs instead.

The question at hand:

Is there a way to load multiple HTML files into a single DIV by clicking on each title?

All titles are within "a" tags which previously could be targeted in the iframe, but now poses challenges with DIVs.

I have experimented with JavaScript and JQuery, managing to create functions to load specific HTML files. However, attempts to add parameters or use InnerHTML have resulted in issues identifying paths for these files. It is important to note that these files are locally hosted on a server.

Note: The following code snippet illustrates part of what has been attempted...

Javascript:

     <script type="text/javascript">
        $(document).ready(function(){
          $('#content').load('intro.html')
        });
     </script>

HTML:

<div class="bg-light border-right" id="sidebar-wrapper">
      <div class="list-group list-group-flush">
        <ul id="tree3" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action bg-light">          
            <li><a href="PATHFILE_1">TITLE 1</a>
                <ul>
                    <li><a href="PATHFILE_2">TITLE 2</a></li>
                    <li><a href="PATHFILE_3">TITLE 3</a>
                </ul>
            </li>
       </div>
</div>

The objective is to display all the specified files within this div:

<div id="page-content-wrapper">
  <div class="container-fluid">
    <div id="content">
      HERE THE HTML FILES WILL LOAD
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

javascript jquery html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

If you want to selectively load content when clicking on certain links within a div, consider adding a class to those specific a elements, like class='dynamic'. Then, attach a click handler to all a.dynamic elements, extract the link using the href attribute of the target element, and use preventDefault to stop the default action (navigation):

$(body).on("click", "a.dynamic", function(event) {
  $('#content').load(event.target.href);
  event.preventDefault();
}

Don't forget to include the class in your links:

<a class="dynamic" href="PATHFILE_2">TITLE 2</a>

Ensure that the HTML loaded dynamically only contains partial content without the html or body tags. It's also advisable not to use a elements for triggering the load operation:

<div class="dynamic" data-href="PATHFILE_2">TITLE 2</div>

To fetch the URL, you can use this approach:

$('#content').load(event.target.dataset.href);

Answer 2

If you want to selectively load content when clicking on certain links within a div, consider adding a class to those specific a elements, like class='dynamic'. Then, attach a click handler to all a.dynamic elements, extract the link using the href attribute of the target element, and use preventDefault to stop the default action (navigation):

$(body).on("click", "a.dynamic", function(event) {
  $('#content').load(event.target.href);
  event.preventDefault();
}

Don't forget to include the class in your links:

<a class="dynamic" href="PATHFILE_2">TITLE 2</a>

Ensure that the HTML loaded dynamically only contains partial content without the html or body tags. It's also advisable not to use a elements for triggering the load operation:

<div class="dynamic" data-href="PATHFILE_2">TITLE 2</div>

To fetch the URL, you can use this approach:

$('#content').load(event.target.dataset.href);

Answer 3

Answer №2

It is not possible to load multiple HTML files in a single div container, as far as I am aware.

However, you can achieve a similar result by using multiple nested div elements within your main container, like #content. These nested divs can be generated dynamically when a hyperlink is clicked, with each one loading a different HTML file.

The basic HTML structure remains the same as shown above. In JavaScript / jQuery, the implementation might look something like this:

$('#tree3').on('click', 'a', function (e) {
  e.preventDefault(); 
  e.stopImmediatePropagation(); 

  // clear the content div
  $('#content').empty(); 

  let parentLi = $(this).closest("li"); 

  // load the HTML content for the clicked hyperlink
  let dynamicDiv = $('<div></div>'); 
  $('#content').append(dynamicDiv); 
  dynamicDiv.load($(this).attr('href'), function(){
    // done loading the main HTML content 
  });

  // check if there are sub lists inside the li element
  let subList = parentLi.children("ul");
  if(subList.length && subList.length > 0){
    $.each(subList.children("li"), function(k, v){
      let subLi = $(v); 
      let hyperlink = $('a', subLi).attr('href'); 

      // load the HTML content for each sub entry
      let dynamicDiv = $('<div></div>'); 
      $('#content').append(dynamicDiv); 
      dynamicDiv.load(hyperlink, function(){
        // done loading...
      });
    });
  }
});

If you need more than two levels in your list, you can modify the code to make it recursive. This way, instead of iterating through the li elements only once, you would also check if those elements contain additional sublists recursively. The core logic for generating and loading the HTML content into divs will remain unchanged.

For styling purposes, I suggest adding overflow-y: auto to the main #content container. This will ensure that there is only one scrollbar for the entire content, while the dynamically generated divs adjust their height based on the HTML content.

Answer 4

It is not possible to load multiple HTML files in a single div container, as far as I am aware.

However, you can achieve a similar result by using multiple nested div elements within your main container, like #content. These nested divs can be generated dynamically when a hyperlink is clicked, with each one loading a different HTML file.

The basic HTML structure remains the same as shown above. In JavaScript / jQuery, the implementation might look something like this:

$('#tree3').on('click', 'a', function (e) {
  e.preventDefault(); 
  e.stopImmediatePropagation(); 

  // clear the content div
  $('#content').empty(); 

  let parentLi = $(this).closest("li"); 

  // load the HTML content for the clicked hyperlink
  let dynamicDiv = $('<div></div>'); 
  $('#content').append(dynamicDiv); 
  dynamicDiv.load($(this).attr('href'), function(){
    // done loading the main HTML content 
  });

  // check if there are sub lists inside the li element
  let subList = parentLi.children("ul");
  if(subList.length && subList.length > 0){
    $.each(subList.children("li"), function(k, v){
      let subLi = $(v); 
      let hyperlink = $('a', subLi).attr('href'); 

      // load the HTML content for each sub entry
      let dynamicDiv = $('<div></div>'); 
      $('#content').append(dynamicDiv); 
      dynamicDiv.load(hyperlink, function(){
        // done loading...
      });
    });
  }
});

If you need more than two levels in your list, you can modify the code to make it recursive. This way, instead of iterating through the li elements only once, you would also check if those elements contain additional sublists recursively. The core logic for generating and loading the HTML content into divs will remain unchanged.

For styling purposes, I suggest adding overflow-y: auto to the main #content container. This will ensure that there is only one scrollbar for the entire content, while the dynamically generated divs adjust their height based on the HTML content.

What is the best method for loading multiple HTML files into a Div container?

Answer №1

Answer №2

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