What is the best way to choose specific attributes in CSS?

Question

What is the best way to choose specific attributes in CSS?

My website has three large CSS files, each containing many classes. Some of these classes have the same name but are defined in different files.

For example: CSS1:

    ...
.btn-primary {
  background: #000;
}
    ...

CSS2:

    ...
.btn-primary {
  background: #fff;
}
    ...

and CSS3:

    ...
.btn-primary {
  background: #4285F4;
}
    ...

If all three CSS files are included on my HTML page, is there a way to specifically target and style the .btn-primary class from CSS3 only? If so, how can I achieve this?

css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Absolutely not.

When a webpage loads a stylesheet that contains a ruleset targeting a specific element, that ruleset will be applied to the element in question.

If different rules within the stylesheet conflict with each other regarding a particular property, they will be resolved based on the prioritization defined by the standard cascade order.

Answer 2

Absolutely not.

When a webpage loads a stylesheet that contains a ruleset targeting a specific element, that ruleset will be applied to the element in question.

If different rules within the stylesheet conflict with each other regarding a particular property, they will be resolved based on the prioritization defined by the standard cascade order.

Answer 3

Answer №2

If you want to change the way your style sheets are structured, you could try this approach:

.btn-primary, .btn-primary.style1 { ... }


.btn-primary, .btn-primary.style2 { ... }


.btn-primary, .btn-primary.style3 { ... }

By modifying your classes in this way, you can apply specific styles like this:

<a class='btn-primary style2'>Stylesheet 2</a>

To make it easier to distinguish between styles, consider adding a method to differentiate them.

--

Another option is to convert your css files to scss format:

.style1 {
    .btn-primary { ... }
}

This would allow you to apply styles from different sheets as needed:

<div class='style1'>
    <a class='btn-primary'>Stylesheet 1</a>
</div>

Answer 4

If you want to change the way your style sheets are structured, you could try this approach:

.btn-primary, .btn-primary.style1 { ... }


.btn-primary, .btn-primary.style2 { ... }


.btn-primary, .btn-primary.style3 { ... }

By modifying your classes in this way, you can apply specific styles like this:

<a class='btn-primary style2'>Stylesheet 2</a>

To make it easier to distinguish between styles, consider adding a method to differentiate them.

--

Another option is to convert your css files to scss format:

.style1 {
    .btn-primary { ... }
}

This would allow you to apply styles from different sheets as needed:

<div class='style1'>
    <a class='btn-primary'>Stylesheet 1</a>
</div>

Answer 5

Answer №3

An admission: what follows may not be the ideal solution in my view. I felt compelled to include it as there may be situations where resorting to unconventional methods is unavoidable, rather than modifying the CSS files.

In general, as Quentin and Bryant have pointed out, there is no inherent "namespacing" for CSS files. Consequently, loading all CSS files can result in the classes from the last file taking precedence (even when conflicting with other names) and making it challenging to differentiate between them.

If, by some chance, you are unconcerned about Chrome users, you might potentially utilize the cssRules or rules properties of the document.styleSheets[i] object for each loaded stylesheet file (i representing the file number). However, it should be noted that this approach does not function in Chrome according to this source. For some reason, both cssRules and rules are null in Chrome for each styleSheets[i].

A potential workaround:

Once all necessary CSS files are loaded,
Within your JavaScript code, read the chosen CSS file as if it were a text file. AJAX can be used for this purpose - refer to this discussion for guidance.
Search for the specific selector within the retrieved text and extract that portion. You could potentially parse the entire file to extract the relevant content.

During my investigation on how to accomplish this step, I encountered the document.styleSheets[i].cssRules object alongside the ineffective method in Chrome.
Create a style element incorporating the extracted content and append this style element to the head element (an example illustrating how to create and append style elements to the head element).

While this approach may seem suboptimal for various reasons (e.g., performance, elegance, readability) and likely indicates that the design of the CSS files needs reassessment for the project (consider Bryant's recommendations), I deemed it important to present this answer. There is a method available, albeit a somewhat makeshift one, for cases where altering the CSS files is not feasible and utilizing them unchanged is a necessity.

Answer 6

An admission: what follows may not be the ideal solution in my view. I felt compelled to include it as there may be situations where resorting to unconventional methods is unavoidable, rather than modifying the CSS files.

In general, as Quentin and Bryant have pointed out, there is no inherent "namespacing" for CSS files. Consequently, loading all CSS files can result in the classes from the last file taking precedence (even when conflicting with other names) and making it challenging to differentiate between them.

If, by some chance, you are unconcerned about Chrome users, you might potentially utilize the cssRules or rules properties of the document.styleSheets[i] object for each loaded stylesheet file (i representing the file number). However, it should be noted that this approach does not function in Chrome according to this source. For some reason, both cssRules and rules are null in Chrome for each styleSheets[i].

A potential workaround:

Once all necessary CSS files are loaded,
Within your JavaScript code, read the chosen CSS file as if it were a text file. AJAX can be used for this purpose - refer to this discussion for guidance.
Search for the specific selector within the retrieved text and extract that portion. You could potentially parse the entire file to extract the relevant content.

During my investigation on how to accomplish this step, I encountered the document.styleSheets[i].cssRules object alongside the ineffective method in Chrome.
Create a style element incorporating the extracted content and append this style element to the head element (an example illustrating how to create and append style elements to the head element).

While this approach may seem suboptimal for various reasons (e.g., performance, elegance, readability) and likely indicates that the design of the CSS files needs reassessment for the project (consider Bryant's recommendations), I deemed it important to present this answer. There is a method available, albeit a somewhat makeshift one, for cases where altering the CSS files is not feasible and utilizing them unchanged is a necessity.

Answer 7

Answer №4

I am puzzled by the purpose of having three separate files to store different styles, even if they may be the same.

However, there are tools available that can normalize and minify your CSS. For instance, check out Nano CSS

Yet, as mentioned in other responses, it is challenging to determine which class from which file is being applied to a specific page. The styles will often overwrite each other, with the last one taking precedence.

Here is an illustration showcasing how the overriding process works:

#test-link {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none;
  background: red;
  color: white;
}
#test-link {
  background: green;
}
#test-link {
  background: orange;
}
#test-link {
  background: black;
}

<a id="test-link" href="javascript:void(0);">Test link</a>

As demonstrated above, only the final style for the background color is used.

Answer 8

I am puzzled by the purpose of having three separate files to store different styles, even if they may be the same.

However, there are tools available that can normalize and minify your CSS. For instance, check out Nano CSS

Yet, as mentioned in other responses, it is challenging to determine which class from which file is being applied to a specific page. The styles will often overwrite each other, with the last one taking precedence.

Here is an illustration showcasing how the overriding process works:

#test-link {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none;
  background: red;
  color: white;
}
#test-link {
  background: green;
}
#test-link {
  background: orange;
}
#test-link {
  background: black;
}

<a id="test-link" href="javascript:void(0);">Test link</a>

As demonstrated above, only the final style for the background color is used.

What is the best way to choose specific attributes in CSS?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

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