Is there any tool which can automatically convert shorthand css to longhand? I need this cause I want to use SmartSprites which does not work well with shorthand.
And prefably also a tool which does the reverse, so after the sprite computation i can minify the css as much as possible...
Also any other solutions for automatic spiriting is welcome, basically im looking for some command line tools which can be integrated into the build process so that the developers still develop on the raw css code.
You can use Dragonfly on Opera. Dragonfly is like Firebug on Firefox and Chrome but developed by Opera. There is a function in Dragonfly which let you alter the shorthand and vica versa. Check opera.com/dragonfly/documentation/
For the reverse, you can use a CSS optimiser like csstidy. I doubt it will convert shorthands to non-shorthands though.
Why not forbid the use of shorthands by developers and use csstidy in the build process?
If you don't like that idea, you could write a small script to do the shorthand conversion, which is significantly easier than the other way around. It basically comes down to string replacement.
Related
Alright, so I recently found this script called "Selectivizr" and I was really excited, but I plugged it into my project, set it up just as it said, and it didn't work.
So, what I am looking for is any sort of JavaScript library/script that will allow me to use CSS3 selectors (especially :checked) in IE8.
Selectivizr seems broken, and hasn't been updated in over a year. Has anybody else had luck with it?
Does anybody know of any other scripts that will allow for use of CSS3 selectors in IE8?
Not looking for CSS3 stylings like border radius, shadows, etc. Just looking for the selectors, like :before, :after, :checked, etc...
Dean Edward's IE9.js is pretty solid, though I have heard of some incompatibility problems when using other libraries as well. Never experienced them myself, but haven't used the library too often in the wild for a long time. Plug it and play, and if it doesn't break then you're all set.
Link: http://code.google.com/p/ie7-js/
Demos: http://ie7-js.googlecode.com/svn/test/index.html
With jQuery code, you can use these few lines to toggle a class on all your checkboxes (or on it's container) any time it's checked or unchecked. This then lets you use regular CSS code in all browsers.
$("input[type='checkbox']").click(function() {
$(this).parent().toggleClass("checked", this.checked);
});
Working example here: http://jsfiddle.net/jfriend00/7jA5r/.
If you dynamically create checkboxes, then you could use the dynamic form of .on() to make sure to catch them.
I would personally rather use a solution with a few lines of code like this than use a heavy library that tries to add CSS style file capabilities. If you were going to use that, make sure you understand what's really going on under the covers before you adopt it.
If you just wanted a selector libraryby itself, the Sizzle selector library works across a wide variety of browsers including all the way back to IE6. It will adapt to the capabilities of the host browser, using as many built-in capabilities as are present and using it's own code when the host browser does not support an explicit capability.
You can use just the selector library itself from here or it is also the selector library inside of jQuery.
It's extremely simple to use. You just do something like this:
var items = Sizzle(":checked");
and you will have an array of DOM elements that match the selector.
Any solution for reducing browser compatibility problem while writing css style.
These three are the main points you need to do yourself:
Write correct markup - make sure it validates
Make sure your markup is in standards mode
Write correct CSS - make sure it validates
In addition, you can do some of the following to reduce the amount of headache:
You can use a CSS framework, like Blueprint, 960.gs, YUI CSS library, etc.
For Internet Explorer -related issues, there is ie7.js and ie8.js
Know how HTML and CSS work
Test in all browsers you target
You may also want to use a CSS reset file to start on the common ground.
Well, as of now there is nothing like fixall() which will make all browsers compatible...however, you can reduce compatibility problems by using the correct doctype.
Read thisarticle on using doctypes. Also, validate your markup.
Edit: You can go to Browser shots to see screenshots of your web design in different browsers.
Discipline!
Validate your HTML. Use a correct DOCTYPE.
Use standards, hack the bugs.
Be descriptive, or use a reset stylesheet.
Simple -- test, test, test.
First thing, you should have at least these browsers on your computer: FireFox3.5B , InternetExplorer7 (+ optional Safari 3, Google Chrome 2 Beta and Opera).
Now for a more definite answer:
avoid css3 styling like "opacity" et cetera as CSS3 is not a standard yet. Instead use Javascript libraries like jQuery to apply those effects selectively
avoid png transparency like the plague... instead use dithered gif transparency (this is now somewhat old, as it now works on IE7+)
Test and test and test
I am trying to figure out the most efficient way to ensure cross-browser compatibility. I have done a bit of research and learned a few interesting things such as the fact that Mozilla/Firefox can't handle a class that has a name starting with a number. Is there a way to make a CSS work for any browser or is it better to just develop multiple CSS and add code to choose which to use based on the browser being used?
You might consider using a CSS Framework such as Blueprint. It includes a CSS reset that should help.
Also, you might want to look at Yahoo's CSS reset
An aside to clarify a point:
... I have done a bit of research and learned a few interesting things such as the fact that Mozilla/Firefox can't handle a class that has a name starting with a number....
Sorry, but that's not a Mozilla limitation, it's in the CSS spec: class names must not start with a number. Any browser that allows them to isn't enforcing the rules properly.
Answered here on StackOverFlow. The relevant part of the spec is at http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/syndata.html#characters (see the 2nd paragraph).
To answer your question: There is no way to make a page using just one universal css and have it displayed equally in all browsers, unless you only use an extremely small sub-set of all available css (selectors, values, etc.).
The way I work is:
Use a css reset
Develop for a browser that adheres to the standards pretty well (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera)
Patch things up for IE using conditional comments (because you'll probably need things that don't validate)
A good starting point would be to use CSS reset such as: http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/reset/
Your goal should be CSS that works on all browsers. If you start out with a CSS file per browser, where do you stop? Mobile Safari? Flock? Konqueror? Every version of every supported browser?
Eventually, you might need to compromise, but you can cross that road when you get there.
Regardless of your infrastructure/framework/etc you should test your code on all major browsers. If possible avoid using style sheets for browser specific problems. Browsers will change and adapt which means you might get stuck having to update a bunch of websites when new browsers come out.
CSS is a fickle beast and I haven't found any solution that covers all the quirks except for a lot of due-diligence and testing.
You might use a framework that does this for you, such as GWT, but keep in mind that you will still have some issues.
Is it better to have a different CSS file for each user-agent or is it better to use CSS Hacks that only certain browsers can see?
Neither.
The best is to write code that works in all browsers without the need of browser specific code or css hacks. It's of course not quite as easy to accomplish, which is why many people use the other methods.
The key is to avoid things that some browsers (very often Internet Explorer) has problems with. One such thing is to use padding rather than margin, because IE doesn't handle margin collapsing correctly.
Some methods that is in the border line of being hacks is using code that doesn't affect browsers that work correctly, but fixes problems for a specific browser. That could be things like specifying a height for an element that normally shouldn't need one, or specifying display:inline on a floating element.
The page Position is everything has examples of some bugs and suggested fixes. (Often the fix is some kind of hack, so you should of course also consider if you can avoid the problem altogether.)
It's better to do neither.
A good css-reset and css that works the same cross-browser is a much better solution.
If your design absolutely precludes that, then (and only then) would I try hacks or IE conditional comments.
I haven't yet seen the need for mutliple css files (beyond a few IE6 corrections addressed via a conditional comment).
Neither if possible. Now that the old Netscape, IE <= 6 etc. are not longer really that much in use, I try to use features which work in all those browsers (e.g. FF >= 2, IE >= 7, Chrome, Opera).
Conditional comments for issues with Internet Explorer appear to be the norm. Combined with a little bit of JavaScript, like Dean Edward's ie7.js you can mitigate most cross browser issues without resorting to hacks within your CSS files.
its better to use a different css files for Internet Explorer 6-7 (include them via conditional comments), and a hacks for other browsers.
A sort of follow up is how to develop the single file that works.
The best approach that I've seen work is to start from nothing, slowly building it up and checking change by change that it's still compatible across your core browsers (especially the problematic ones).
When you get it fully working with one browser and then say "time to convert it" is when the pain really starts and where you have to start hacking.
My approach using a PHP class to detect os, browser and browser version. You can target any version of almost any browser on any operating system.
I'm using CSS Filters to modify images on the fly within the browser. These work perfectly in Internet Explorer, but aren't supported in Firefox.
Does anyone know what the CSS Filter equivalent for these is for Firefox? An answer that would work cross browser (Safari, WebKit, Firefox, etc.) would be preferred.
<style type="text/css">
.CSSClassName {filter:Invert;}
.CSSClassName {filter:Xray;}
.CSSClassName {filter:Gray;}
.CSSClassName {filter:FlipV;}
</style>
Update: I know Filter is an IE specific feature. Is there any kind of equivalent for any of these that is supported by Firefox?
Please check the Nihilogic Javascript Image Effect Library:
supports IE and Fx pretty well
has a lot of effects
You can find many other effects in the CVI Projects:
they are also JS based
there's a Lab to experiment
Good Luck
Could you give us a concrete example of what exactly you're trying to do? You'd probably get fewer "Your brower sux" responses and more "How about trying this different approach?" ones.
Normally CSS is used to control the look and feel of HTML content, not add effects or edit images in clever ways. What you're trying to do might be possible using javascript, but a behavior-oriented script still probably isn't very well suited for the kind of tweaking you want to do (although something like this is a fun and very inefficient adventure in CSS / JS tomfoolery).
I can't imagine a scenario when you would need the client to perform image tweaking in real-time. You could modify images server-side and simply reference these modified versions with your CSS or possibly Javascript, depending on what you're doing exactly. ImageMagick is a great little command-line tool for all the image effects you would ever need, and is pretty simple to use by itself or within the server-side language of your choice. Or if you're using PHP, I believe PHP's GD library is pretty popular.
There are no equivalents in other browsers. The closest you could get is using a graphics library like Canvas and manipulating the images in it, but you'd have to write the manipulations yourself and they'd require JavaScript.
filter is an IE-only feature -- it is not available in any other browser.
SVG filters applied to HTML content.
Only works in Firefox 3.1 and above, though I think Safari is heading in the same direction.
None that I know of. Filter was an IE only thing and I don't think any other browser has followed with similar functionality.
What is there a specific use case you need?
I'm afraid that you are pretty much out of luck with most of the cross-browser filter-type functionality. CSS alone will not allow you to do most of these things. For example, there is no way to invert an image cross-browser just using CSS. You will have to have two different copies of the image (one inverted) or you could try using Javascript or maybe go about it a completely different way, but there is no simple solution solely in CSS.
There are filters, such as Gaussian Blur et al in SVG, which is supported natively by most browsers except IE.
Pure thought experiment here, you could wrap your images in an SVG object on the fly with javascript and attempt to apply filters to them.
I doubt this would work for background images, though perhaps with alot of clever positioning it could work.
It's unlikely to be a realistic solution. If you don't want to permanently modify your source images, Rudi has the best answer, using server side tools to apply transformations on the fly (or cached for performance) will be the best cross browser solution.
This is a very very old question but css has updated to now support filters. Read more about it at
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/filter
Syntax
With a function, use the following:
filter: <filter-function> [<filter-function>]* | none
For a reference to an SVG element, use the following:
filter: url(svg-url#element-id)
Not really, and hopefully there never will be. It's not a web standard CSS feature for the reason that you're using CSS to format the webpage, not the browser itself. The day that other web designers and developers think they should style my browser how they wish and are then do so is the day I stop visiting their pages (and I say this as a front end web guy).