interface HTMLObjectElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString data;
           attribute DOMString type;
           attribute boolean typeMustMatch;
           attribute DOMString name;
           attribute DOMString useMap;
  readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form;
           attribute DOMString width;
           attribute DOMString height;
  readonly attribute Document? contentDocument;
  readonly attribute WindowProxy? contentWindow;

  readonly attribute boolean willValidate;
  readonly attribute ValidityState validity;
  readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage;
  boolean checkValidity();
  void setCustomValidity(DOMString error);

  legacycaller any (any... arguments);
};

The object element can represent an external resource, which, depending on the type of the resource, will either be treated as an image, as a nested browsing context, or as an external resource to be processed by a plugin.

The data attribute, if present, specifies the address of the resource. If present, the attribute must be a valid non-empty URL potentially surrounded by spaces.

Authors who reference resources from other origins that they do not trust are urged to use the typemustmatch attribute defined below. Without that attribute, it is possible in certain cases for an attacker on the remote host to use the plugin mechanism to run arbitrary scripts, even if the author has used features such as the Flash "allowScriptAccess" parameter.

The type attribute, if present, specifies the type of the resource. If present, the attribute must be a valid MIME type.

At least one of either the data attribute or the type attribute must be present.

The typemustmatch attribute is a boolean attribute whose presence indicates 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 not be specified unless both the data attribute and the type attribute are present.

The name attribute, if present, must be a valid browsing context name. The given value is used to name the nested browsing context, if applicable.

The usemap attribute, if present while the object element represents an image, can indicate that the object has an associated image map.

The form attribute is used to explicitly associate the object element with its form owner.

The object element supports dimension attributes.

The IDL attributes data, type and name each must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name. The typeMustMatch IDL attribute must reflect the typemustmatch content attribute. The useMap IDL attribute must reflect the usemap content attribute.

The contentDocument IDL attribute must return the Document object of the active document of the object element's nested browsing context, if it has one; otherwise, it must return null.

The contentWindow IDL attribute must return the WindowProxy object of the object element's nested browsing context, if it has one; otherwise, it must return null.

All object elements have a legacy caller operation. If the object element has an instantiated plugin that supports a scriptable interface that defines a legacy caller operation, then that must be the behavior of the object's legacy caller operation. Otherwise, the object's legacy caller operation must be to throw a NotSupportedError exception.

In the following example, a Java applet is embedded in a page using the object element. (Generally speaking, it is better to avoid using applets like these and instead use native JavaScript and HTML to provide the functionality, since that way the application will work on all Web browsers without requiring a third-party plugin. Many devices, especially embedded devices, do not support third-party technologies like Java.)

<figure>
 <object type="application/x-java-applet">
  <param name="code" value="MyJavaClass">
  <p>You do not have Java available, or it is disabled.</p>
 </object>
 <figcaption>My Java Clock</figcaption>
</figure>

In this example, an HTML page is embedded in another using the object element.

<figure>
 <object data="clock.html"></object>
 <figcaption>My HTML Clock</figcaption>
</figure>

The following example shows how a plugin can be used in HTML (in this case the Flash plugin, to show a video file). Fallback is provided for users who do not have Flash enabled, in this case using the video element to show the video for those using user agents that support video, and finally providing a link to the video for those who have neither Flash nor a video-capable browser.

<p>Look at my video:
 <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash">
  <param name=movie value="http://video.example.com/library/watch.swf">
  <param name=allowfullscreen value=true>
  <param name=flashvars value="http://video.example.com/vids/315981">
  <video controls src="http://video.example.com/vids/315981">
   <a href="http://video.example.com/vids/315981">View video</a>.
  </video>
 </object>
</p>

HTML5: Edition for Web Authors

4.8.4 The object element

4.8.4 The `object` element