A formal grammar, the CSS value definition syntax, is used for defining the set of valid values for a CSS property or function. In addition to this syntax, the set of valid values can be further restricted by semantic constraints (like, for a number to be strictly positive).
The definition syntax describes which values are allowed and the interactions between them. A component can be a keyword, some characters considered as a literal, or a value of a given CSS data type or of another CSS property.
A keyword with a predefined meaning appears literally, without quotation marks, for example: auto
, smaller
or ease-in
.
inherit
and initial
All CSS properties accept the keywords inherit
and initial
that are defined throughout CSS. They are not shown in the value definition, and are implicitly defined.
In CSS, a few characters can appear on their own, like the slash ('/
') or the comma (',
'), and are used in a property definition to separate its parts. The comma is often used to separate values in enumerations, or parameters in mathematical-like functions; the slash often separates parts of the value that are semantically different, but have a common syntax. Typically, the slash is sometimes used in shorthand properties to separate component that are of the same type but belong to different properties.
Both symbols appear literally in a value definition.
Some kind of data are used throughout CSS and are defined once for all values in the specification. Called basic data types, they are represented with their name surrounded by the symbol '<
' and '>
': <angle>
, <string>
, …
Less common data types, called non-terminal data types, are also surrounded by '<
' and '>
'.
Non-terminal data types are of two kinds:
Brackets enclose several entities, combinators, and multipliers, then transform them as a single component. They are used to group components to bypass the precedence rules.
bold [ thin && <length> ]
This example matches the following values:
bold thin 2vh
bold 0 thin
bold thin 3.5em
But not:
thin bold 3em
, as bold
is juxtaposed with the component defined by the brackets, it must appear before it.Placing several keywords, literals, or data types, next to one another, only separated by one or several spaces is called juxtaposition. All juxtaposed components are mandatory and should appear in the exact order.
bold <length> , thin
This example matches the following values:
bold 1em, thin
bold 0, thin
bold 2.5cm, thin
bold 3vh, thin
But not:
thin 1em, bold
, as the entities must be in the expressed orderbold 1em thin
, as the entities are mandatory; the comma, a literal, must be presentbold 0.5ms, thin
, as the ms
values are not <length>
Separating two or more components by a double ampersand, &&
, means that all these entities are mandatory but may appear in any order.
bold && <length>
This example matches the following values:
bold 1em
bold 0
2.5cm bold
3vh bold
But not:
bold
, as both components must appear in the value.bold 1em bold
, as both components must appear only one time.bold thin && <length>
is equivalent to [ bold thin ] && <length>
. It describes bold thin <length>
or <length> bold thin
but not bold <length> thin
.Separating two or more components by a double bar, ||
, means that all entities are options: at least one of them must be present, and they may appear in any order. Typically this is used to define the different values of a shorthand property.
<'border-width'> || <'border-style'> || <'border-color'>
This example matches the following values:
1em solid blue
blue 1em
solid 1px yellow
But not:
blue yellow
, as a component must appear at most one single time.bold
, as it isn't a keyword allowed as value of any of the entity.bold || thin && <length>
is equivalent to bold || [ thin && <length> ]
. It describes bold
, thin <length>
, bold thin <length>
, or thin <length> bold
but not <length> bold thin
as bold, if not omitted, must be placed before or after the whole thin && <length>
component.Separating two or more entities by a single bar, |
, means that all entities are exclusive options: exactly one of these options must be present. This is typically used to separate a list of possible keywords.
<percentage> | <length> | left | center | right | top | bottom
This example matches the following values:
3%
0
3.5em
left
center
right
top
bottom
But not:
center 3%
, as only one of the components must be present.3em 4.5em
, as a component must be present at most one time.Note: the double bar has precedence over the single bar, meaning that bold | thin || <length>
is equivalent to bold | [ thin || <length> ]
. It describes bold
, thin
, <length>
, <length> thin
, or thin <length>
but not bold <length>
as only one entity from each side of the |
combinator can be present.
A multiplier is a sign that indicate how many time a preceding entity can be repeated. Without a multiplier, an entity must appear exactly one time.
Note that multipliers cannot be added and have all precedence over combinators.
*
)The asterisk multiplier indicates that the entity may appear zero, one or several times.
bold smaller*
This example matches the following values:
bold
bold smaller
bold smaller smaller
bold smaller smaller smaller
and so on.But not:
smaller
, as bold
is juxtaposed and must appear before any smaller
keyword.+
)The plus multiplier indicates that the entity may appear one or several times.
bold smaller+
This example matches the following values:
bold smaller
bold smaller smaller
bold smaller smaller smaller
and so on.But not:
bold
, as smaller
must appear at least one time.smaller
, as bold
is juxtaposed and must appear before any smaller
keyword.?
)The question mark multiplier indicates that the entity is optional and must appear zero or one time.
bold smaller?
This example matches the following values:
bold
bold smaller
But not:
bold smaller smaller
, as smaller
must appear at most one time.smaller
, as bold
is juxtaposed and must appear before any smaller
keyword.{ }
)The curly braces multiplier, enclosing two integers separated by a comma, A and B, indicates that the entity must appear at least A times and at most B times.
bold smaller{1,3}
This example matches the following values:
bold smaller
bold smaller smaller
bold smaller smaller smaller
But not:
bold
, as smaller
must appear at least one time.bold smaller smaller smaller smaller
, as smaller
must appear at most three times.smaller
, as bold
is juxtaposed and must appear before any smaller
keyword#
)The hash mark multiplier indicates that the entity may be repeated one or more times (like the plus multiplier) but each occurrence is separated by a comma (',').
bold smaller#
This example matches the following values:
bold smaller
bold smaller, smaller
bold smaller, smaller, smaller
and so on.But not:
bold
, as smaller
must appear at least one time.bold smaller smaller smaller
, as the different occurrence of smaller
must be separated by commas.smaller
, as bold
is juxtaposed and must appear before any smaller
keyword.!
)The exclamation point multiplier after a group indicates that the group is required and must produce at least one value; even if the grammar of the items within the group would otherwise allow the entire contents to be omitted, at least one component value must not be omitted.
[ bold? smaller? ]!
This example matches the following values:
bold
smaller
bold smaller
But not:
bold
nor smaller
, as one of them must appear.smaller bold
, as bold
is juxtaposed and must appear before the smaller
keyword.bold smaller bold
, as bold
and smaller
may only appear once.Sign | Name | Description | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Combinators | |||
Juxtaposition | Components are mandatory and should appear in that order | solid <length> | |
&& | Double ampersand | Components are mandatory but may appear in any order | <length> && <string> |
|| | Double bar | At least one of the components must be present, and they may appear in any order. | <'border-image-outset'> || <'border-image-slice'> |
| | Single bar | Exactly one of the components must be present | smaller | small | normal | big | bigger |
[ ] | Brackets | Group components to bypass precedence rules | bold [ thin && <length> ] |
Multipliers | |||
No multiplier | Exactly 1 times | solid | |
* | Asterisk | 0 or more times | bold smaller* |
+ | Plus sign | 1 or more times | bold smaller+ |
? | Question mark | 0 or 1 time (that is optional) | bold smaller? |
{A,B} | Curly braces | At least A times, at most B times | bold smaller{1,3} |
# | Hash mark | 1 or more times, but each occurrence separated by a comma (', ') | bold smaller# |
! | Exclamation point | Group must produce at least 1 value | [ bold? smaller? ]! |
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
CSS Values and Units Module Level 3 The definition of 'Value definition syntax' in that specification. | Candidate Recommendation | Adds the hash mark multiplier. |
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'Value definition syntax' in that specification. | Recommendation | Adds the double ampersand combinator. |
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'Value definition syntax' in that specification. | Recommendation | Initial definition |
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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Value_definition_syntax