Web Browser Tabs
Web Browser tabs embed a full virtual browser in your lab interface, pointed at a URL you control. Unlike an External Website tab, which embeds a page in an iframe, the Web Browser tab runs an actual browser instance for users to interact with, so it works with sites that block iframe embedding and supports interactions an iframe can’t, such as copy and paste.
Creating a Web Browser Tab
Section titled “Creating a Web Browser Tab”To create a Web Browser tab:
- Navigate to the Tabs section in your lab editor
- Click Add Tab and select Web Browser from the dropdown
- Configure the URL to load
Supported Fields
Section titled “Supported Fields”| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name (internal) | ✓ | Used for internal reference. Not visible to end users |
| URL | ✓ | The web address to display in the embedded browser |
| Browser | The browser engine to use. Currently only chromium is supported | |
| Show address bar | Show the current page URL above the browser (default: true) | |
| Show zoom controls | Show the zoom control above the browser (default: true) | |
| Show home button | Show the home button above the browser (default: true) | |
| Show refresh button | Show the refresh button above the browser (default: true) | |
| Home button URL | Where the home button takes users. Does not change the page the tab opens on. Defaults to the tab’s URL | |
| Zoom | The zoom level the browser starts at, as a whole percentage from 50 to 200 (default: 100) |
The Browser Toolbar
Section titled “The Browser Toolbar”By default, a slim toolbar sits above the browser:
- Home and Refresh (far left): Home takes users to the page the tab opened on, unless Home button URL names a different one. Refresh reloads whatever page the browser is currently on.
- Address bar: shows the URL of the page the browser is currently on. It is read-only, so users can’t navigate from it, but they can select the text or click the copy button to copy the URL.
- Zoom control (right): shows the current zoom level between a minus and a plus button. Users click the buttons to zoom out or in, or click the percentage to type an exact value and press Enter. Zoom ranges from 50% to 200%.
The two buttons do different things. Home navigates away to a fixed address, while Refresh re-fetches the page where the user already is. Use Home to give users a way back when they have navigated somewhere unexpected, and Refresh for pages that don’t update on their own.
Zoom changes how the page is rendered inside the browser, so the page reflows to fit rather than the image being scaled. A user’s zoom level stays the same as they move between pages for the rest of their session.
Each part is turned off independently with Show home button, Show refresh button, Show address bar and Show zoom controls. The toolbar stays as long as one of them is on. Only when all four are off is the toolbar removed and the browser fills the whole tab.
Use Zoom to set the level the browser starts at, for example 125 to make small text easier to read. Users can still change it during the session with the zoom control, or with Cmd+Plus, Cmd+Minus and Cmd+0 (macOS) or Ctrl+Plus, Ctrl+Minus and Ctrl+0, which keep working when the zoom control is turned off. The keyboard shortcuts work on a best effort basis in Safari and Firefox, which can zoom the whole page instead. Use the zoom control in those browsers.
Reference
Section titled “Reference”For detailed HCL reference information, see the Web Browser Reference.