loose DTD: META element | WebReference

loose DTD: META element

META

The <META> element is an extensible container for use in identifying specialized document meta-information. Meta-information has two main functions:

Each <META> element specifies a name/value pair. If multiple META elements are provided with the same name, their combined contents-- concatenated as a comma-separated list--is the value associated with that name.

NOTE
The <META> element should not be used where a specific element, such as <TITLE>, would be more appropriate. Rather than a <META> element with a URI as the value of the CONTENT attribute, use a <LINK> element.

HTTP servers may read the content of the document <HEAD> to generate header fields corresponding to any elements defining a value for the attribute HTTP-EQUIV.

NOTE
The method by which the server extracts document meta-information is unspecified and not mandatory. The <META> element only provides an extensible mechanism for identifying and embedding document meta-information -- how it may be used is up to the individual server implementation and the HTML user agent.

Examples

If the document contains: 

    <META HTTP-EQUIV="Expires"
          CONTENT="Tue, 04 Dec 1993 21:29:02 GMT">
    <meta http-equiv="Keywords" CONTENT="Fred">
    <META HTTP-EQUIV="Reply-to"
          content="[email protected] (Roy Fielding)">
    <Meta Http-equiv="Keywords" CONTENT="Barney">

then the server may include the following header fields: 

    Expires: Tue, 04 Dec 1993 21:29:02 GMT
    Keywords: Fred, Barney
    Reply-to: [email protected] (Roy Fielding)

as part of the HTTP response to a `GET' or `HEAD' request for that document.

An HTTP server must not use the <META> element to form an HTTP response header unless the HTTP-EQUIV attribute is present.

An HTTP server may disregard any <META> elements that specify information controlled by the HTTP server, for example `Server', `Date', and `Last-modified'.

Content

ATTRIBUTES
Empty CONTENT DECLARATION

Tag Minimization
Open Tag: REQUIRED
Close Tag: OPTIONAL

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