What is the purpose of the asterisk symbol in CSS?

Can you explain the purpose of the star symbol in CSS and what it is commonly referred to as? I see it as a type of wild card, but I would like to research it further.

#div {
  *zoom: 1; /*this ... *
  zoom : 1;
  display: inline;
  *display: inline; /*... and this, whats the difference? *
}

I have a good understanding of this CSS selector:

* {
..css code
}

Answer №1

To put it simply, this is a technique used to target specific CSS for different versions of Internet Explorer. Some may refer to it as a CSS Hack.

#div {
  *zoom: 1; /*This code only affects IE7 and earlier versions*/
  zoom : 1;
  display: inline;
  *display: inline; /*This code only affects IE7 and earlier versions*/
}

This CSS will only be applied to IE7 and earlier versions. It's a workaround that allows us to customize styles for IE7 and below.

Here's how you can target IE6, IE7, and IE8 uniquely:

#div{  
 color: red; /*applies to all browsers*/  
 color : green\9; /*applies to IE8 and earlier*/  
 *color : yellow; /*applies to IE7 and earlier*/  
 _color : orange; /*applies to IE6*/  
} 

CLICK HERE if you're interested in learning more about browser-specific CSS.

Answer №2

asterisk-property workaround The IE family does not recognize the *, so it applies the property even without it. This workaround is utilized to target styling exclusively for Internet Explorer 7 (and below). It exploits a flaw in the DOM implementation that has been present in Explorer since 1997. Despite the specifications indicating the html element as the actual root element in any well-formed (X)HTML document, Explorer 7 (and earlier) wrongly interprets the html element as enclosed within an unidentified element.

Answer №3

*rule: condition

Even though Internet Explorer 7 fixed its behavior regarding properties with underscore or hyphen prefixes, other special characters like asterisks still behave the same as they did in IE6. So, by adding an asterisk (*) before a property name, it will only apply in IE and not in other browsers. Unlike underscore and hyphen, the CSS standard does not account for asterisks as prefixes, so using this hack may lead to unexpected results as CSS rules change over time.

Answer №4

Based on your specific situation, it appears to be what is known as the star hack. This property seems to only be applicable in certain versions of IE, depending on how it is used.

If you're interested in learning more, you can find additional information here.

Answer №5

What is the significance of the * in CSS?
-> The * selects all elements that come after specified elements. For example, div.red *{color: red;} will make all elements after a class red in color, even if a different color is defined inside div.red. Therefore, the * symbol represents ALL. See This Fiddle

* zoom: 1; -> By placing * at the beginning, this style hack works only in IE, as other browsers will ignore it.

* is known as an asterisk in simple language, and in coding language, it is referred to as the Universal Selector

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