Cascading Style Sheets, level 2
CSS2 Specification

Full Table of Contents

• 1 About the CSS2 Specification
  • 1.1 Reading the specification
  • 1.2 How the specification is organized
  • 1.3 Conventions
    • 1.3.1 Document language elements and attributes
    • 1.3.2 CSS property definitions
      • Value
      • Initial
      • Applies to
      • Inherited
      • Percentage values
      • Media groups
    • 1.3.3 Shorthand properties
    • 1.3.4 Notes and examples
    • 1.3.5 Images and long descriptions
  • 1.4 Acknowledgments
  • 1.5 Copyright Notice
• 2 Introduction to CSS2
  • 2.1 A brief CSS2 tutorial for HTML
  • 2.2 A brief CSS2 tutorial for XML
  • 2.3 The CSS2 processing model
    • 2.3.1 The canvas
    • 2.3.2 CSS2 addressing model
  • 2.4 CSS design principles
• 3 Conformance: Requirements and Recommendations
  • 3.1 Definitions
  • 3.2 Conformance
  • 3.3 Error conditions
  • 3.4 The text/css content type
• 4 CSS2 syntax and basic data types
  • 4.1 Syntax
    • 4.1.1 Tokenization
    • 4.1.2 Keywords
    • 4.1.3 Characters and case
    • 4.1.4 Statements
    • 4.1.5 At-rules
    • 4.1.6 Blocks
    • 4.1.7 Rule sets, declaration blocks, and selectors
    • 4.1.8 Declarations and properties
    • 4.1.9 Comments
  • 4.2 Rules for handling parsing errors
  • 4.3 Values
    • 4.3.1 Integers and real numbers
    • 4.3.2 Lengths
    • 4.3.3 Percentages
    • 4.3.4 URL + URN = URI
    • 4.3.5 Counters
    • 4.3.6 Colors
    • 4.3.7 Angles
    • 4.3.8 Times
    • 4.3.9 Frequencies
    • 4.3.10 Strings
  • 4.4 CSS document representation
    • 4.4.1 Referring to characters not represented in a character encoding
• 5 Selectors
  • 5.1 Pattern matching
  • 5.2 Selector syntax
    • 5.2.1 Grouping
  • 5.3 Universal selector
  • 5.4 Type selectors
  • 5.5 Descendant selectors
  • 5.6 Child selectors
  • 5.7 Adjacent sibling selectors
  • 5.8 Attribute selectors
    • 5.8.1 Matching attributes and attribute values
    • 5.8.2 Default attribute values in DTDs
    • 5.8.3 Class selectors
  • 5.9 ID selectors
  • 5.10 Pseudo-elements and pseudo-classes
  • 5.11 Pseudo-classes
    • 5.11.1 :first-child pseudo-class
    • 5.11.2 The link pseudo-classes: :link and :visited
    • 5.11.3 The dynamic pseudo-classes: :hover, :active, and :focus
    • 5.11.4 The language pseudo-class: :lang
  • 5.12 Pseudo-elements
    • 5.12.1 The :first-line pseudo-element
    • 5.12.2 The :first-letter pseudo-element
    • 5.12.3 The :before and :after pseudo-elements
• 6 Assigning property values, Cascading, and Inheritance
  • 6.1 Specified, computed, and actual values
    • 6.1.1 Specified values
    • 6.1.2 Computed values
    • 6.1.3 Actual values
  • 6.2 Inheritance
    • 6.2.1 The 'inherit' value
  • 6.3 The @import rule
  • 6.4 The cascade
    • 6.4.1 Cascading order
    • 6.4.2 !important rules
    • 6.4.3 Calculating a selector's specificity
    • 6.4.4 Precedence of non-CSS presentational hints
• 7 Media types
  • 7.1 Introduction to media types
  • 7.2 Specifying media-dependent style sheets
    • 7.2.1 The @media rule
  • 7.3 Recognized media types
    • 7.3.1 Media groups
• 8 Box model
  • 8.1 Box dimensions
  • 8.2 Example of margins, padding, and borders
  • 8.3 Margin properties: 'margin-top', 'margin-right', 'margin-bottom', 'margin-left', and 'margin'
    • 8.3.1 Collapsing margins
  • 8.4 Padding properties: 'padding-top', 'padding-right', 'padding-bottom', 'padding-left', and 'padding'
  • 8.5 Border properties
    • 8.5.1 Border width: 'border-top-width', 'border-right-width', 'border-bottom-width', 'border-left-width', and 'border-width'
    • 8.5.2 Border color: 'border-top-color', 'border-right-color', 'border-bottom-color', 'border-left-color', and 'border-color'
    • 8.5.3 Border style: 'border-top-style', 'border-right-style', 'border-bottom-style', 'border-left-style', and 'border-style'
    • 8.5.4 Border shorthand properties: 'border-top', 'border-bottom', 'border-right', 'border-left', and 'border'
• 9 Visual formatting model
  • 9.1 Introduction to the visual formatting model
    • 9.1.1 The viewport
    • 9.1.2 Containing blocks
  • 9.2 Controlling box generation
    • 9.2.1 Block-level elements and block boxes
      • Anonymous block boxes
    • 9.2.2 Inline-level elements and inline boxes
      • Anonymous inline boxes
    • 9.2.3 Compact boxes
    • 9.2.4 Run-in boxes
    • 9.2.5 The 'display' property
  • 9.3 Positioning schemes
    • 9.3.1 Choosing a positioning scheme: 'position' property
    • 9.3.2 Box offsets: 'top', 'right', 'bottom', 'left'
  • 9.4 Normal flow
    • 9.4.1 Block formatting context
    • 9.4.2 Inline formatting context
    • 9.4.3 Relative positioning
  • 9.5 Floats
    • 9.5.1 Positioning the float: the 'float' property
    • 9.5.2 Controlling flow next to floats: the 'clear' property
  • 9.6 Absolute positioning
    • 9.6.1 Fixed positioning
  • 9.7 Relationships between 'display', 'position', and 'float'
  • 9.8 Comparison of normal flow, floats, and absolute positioning
    • 9.8.1 Normal flow
    • 9.8.2 Relative positioning
    • 9.8.3 Floating a box
    • 9.8.4 Absolute positioning
  • 9.9 Layered presentation
    • 9.9.1 Specifying the stack level: the 'z-index' property
  • 9.10 Text direction: the 'direction' and 'unicode-bidi' properties
• 10 Visual formatting model details
  • 10.1 Definition of "containing block"
  • 10.2 Content width: the 'width' property
  • 10.3 Computing widths and margins
    • 10.3.1 Inline, non-replaced elements
    • 10.3.2 Inline, replaced elements
    • 10.3.3 Block-level, non-replaced elements in normal flow
    • 10.3.4 Block-level, replaced elements in normal flow
    • 10.3.5 Floating, non-replaced elements
    • 10.3.6 Floating, replaced elements
    • 10.3.7 Absolutely positioned, non-replaced elements
    • 10.3.8 Absolutely positioned, replaced elements
  • 10.4 Minimum and maximum widths: 'min-width' and 'max-width'
  • 10.5 Content height: the 'height' property
  • 10.6 Computing heights and margins
    • 10.6.1 Inline, non-replaced elements
    • 10.6.2 Inline, replaced elements block-level, replaced elements in normal flow, and floating, replaced elements
    • 10.6.3 Block-level, non-replaced elements in normal flow, and floating, non-replaced elements
    • 10.6.4 Absolutely positioned, non-replaced elements
    • 10.6.5 Absolutely positioned, replaced elements
  • 10.7 Minimum and maximum heights: 'min-height' and 'max-height'
  • 10.8 Line height calculations: the 'line-height' and 'vertical-align' properties
    • 10.8.1 Leading and half-leading
• 11 Visual effects
  • 11.1 Overflow and clipping
    • 11.1.1 Overflow: the 'overflow' property
    • 11.1.2 Clipping: the 'clip' property
  • 11.2 Visibility: the 'visibility' property
• 12 Generated content, automatic numbering, and lists
  • 12.1 The :before and :after pseudo-elements
  • 12.2 The 'content' property
  • 12.3 Interaction of :before and :after with 'compact' and 'run-in' elements
  • 12.4 Quotation marks
    • 12.4.1 Specifying quotes with the 'quotes' property
    • 12.4.2 Inserting quotes with the 'content' property
  • 12.5 Automatic counters and numbering
    • 12.5.1 Nested counters and scope
    • 12.5.2 Counter styles
    • 12.5.3 Counters in elements with 'display: none'
  • 12.6 Markers and lists
    • 12.6.1 Markers: the 'marker-offset' property
    • 12.6.2 Lists: the 'list-style-type', 'list-style-image', 'list-style-position', and 'list-style' properties
• 13 Paged media
  • 13.1 Introduction to paged media
  • 13.2 Page boxes: the @page rule
    • 13.2.1 Page margins
    • 13.2.2 Page size: the 'size' property
      • Rendering page boxes that do not fit a target sheet
      • Positioning the page box on the sheet
    • 13.2.3 Crop marks: the 'marks' property
    • 13.2.4 Left, right, and first pages
    • 13.2.5 Content outside the page box
  • 13.3 Page breaks
    • 13.3.1 Break before/after elements: 'page-break-before', 'page-break-after', 'page-break-inside'
    • 13.3.2 Using named pages: 'page'
    • 13.3.3 Breaks inside elements: 'orphans', 'widows'
    • 13.3.4 Allowed page breaks
    • 13.3.5 Forced page breaks
    • 13.3.6 "Best" page breaks
  • 13.4 Cascading in the page context
• 14 Colors and Backgrounds
  • 14.1 Foreground color: the 'color' property
  • 14.2 The background
    • 14.2.1 Background properties: 'background-color', 'background-image', 'background-repeat', 'background-attachment', 'background-position', and 'background'
  • 14.3 Gamma correction
• 15 Fonts
  • 15.1 Introduction
  • 15.2 Font specification
    • 15.2.1 Font specification properties
    • 15.2.2 Font family: the 'font-family' property
    • 15.2.3 Font styling: the 'font-style', 'font-variant', 'font-weight' and 'font-stretch' properties
    • 15.2.4 Font size: the 'font-size' and 'font-size-adjust' properties
    • 15.2.5 Shorthand font property: the 'font' property
    • 15.2.6 Generic font families
      • serif
      • sans-serif
      • cursive
      • fantasy
      • monospace
  • 15.3 Font selection
    • 15.3.1 Font Descriptions and @font-face
    • 15.3.2 Descriptors for Selecting a Font: 'font-family', 'font-style', 'font-variant', 'font-weight', 'font-stretch' and 'font-size'
    • 15.3.3 Descriptors for Font Data Qualification: 'unicode-range'
    • 15.3.4 Descriptor for Numeric Values: 'units-per-em'
    • 15.3.5 Descriptor for Referencing: 'src'
    • 15.3.6 Descriptors for Matching: 'panose-1', 'stemv', 'stemh', 'slope', 'cap-height', 'x-height', 'ascent', and 'descent'
    • 15.3.7 Descriptors for Synthesis: 'widths', 'bbox' and 'definition-src'
    • 15.3.8 Descriptors for Alignment: 'baseline', 'centerline', 'mathline', and 'topline'
    • 15.3.9 Examples
  • 15.4 Font Characteristics
    • 15.4.1 Introducing Font Characteristics
    • 15.4.2 Full font name
    • 15.4.3 Coordinate units on the em square
    • 15.4.4 Central Baseline
    • 15.4.5 Font Encoding
    • 15.4.6 Font family name
    • 15.4.7 Glyph widths
    • 15.4.8 Horizontal stem width
    • 15.4.9 Height of uppercase glyphs
    • 15.4.10 Height of lowercase glyphs
    • 15.4.11 Lower Baseline
    • 15.4.12 Mathematical Baseline
    • 15.4.13 Maximal bounding box
    • 15.4.14 Maximum unaccented height
    • 15.4.15 Maximum unaccented depth
    • 15.4.16 Panose-1 number
    • 15.4.17 Range of ISO 10646 characters
    • 15.4.18 Top Baseline
    • 15.4.19 Vertical stem width
    • 15.4.20 Vertical stroke angle
  • 15.5 Font matching algorithm
    • 15.5.1 Mapping font weight values to font names
    • 15.5.2 Examples of font matching
• 16 Text
  • 16.1 Indentation: the 'text-indent' property
  • 16.2 Alignment: the 'text-align' property
  • 16.3 Decoration
    • 16.3.1 Underlining, overlining, striking, and blinking: the 'text-decoration' property
    • 16.3.2 Text shadows: the 'text-shadow' property
  • 16.4 Letter and word spacing: the 'letter-spacing' and 'word-spacing' properties
  • 16.5 Capitalization: the 'text-transform' property
  • 16.6 Whitespace: the 'white-space' property
• 17 Tables
  • 17.1 Introduction to tables
  • 17.2 The CSS table model
    • 17.2.1 Anonymous table objects
  • 17.3 Column selectors
  • 17.4 Tables in the visual formatting model
    • 17.4.1 Caption position and alignment
  • 17.5 Visual layout of table contents
    • 17.5.1 Table layers and transparency
    • 17.5.2 Table width algorithms: the 'table-layout' property
      • Fixed table layout
      • Automatic table layout
    • 17.5.3 Table height algorithms
    • 17.5.4 Horizontal alignment in a column
    • 17.5.5 Dynamic row and column effects
  • 17.6 Borders
    • 17.6.1 The separated borders model
      • Borders around empty cells: the 'empty-cells' property
    • 17.6.2 The collapsing border model
      • Border conflict resolution
    • 17.6.3 Border styles
  • 17.7 Audio rendering of tables
    • 17.7.1 Speaking headers: the 'speak-header' property
• 18 User interface
  • 18.1 Cursors: the 'cursor' property
  • 18.2 User preferences for colors
  • 18.3 User preferences for fonts
  • 18.4 Dynamic outlines: the 'outline' property
    • 18.4.1 Outlines and the focus
  • 18.5 Magnification
• 19 Aural style sheets
  • 19.1 Introduction to aural style sheets
  • 19.2 Volume properties: 'volume'
  • 19.3 Speaking properties: 'speak'
  • 19.4 Pause properties: 'pause-before', 'pause-after', and 'pause'
  • 19.5 Cue properties: 'cue-before', 'cue-after', and 'cue'
  • 19.6 Mixing properties: 'play-during'
  • 19.7 Spatial properties: 'azimuth' and 'elevation'
  • 19.8 Voice characteristic properties: 'speech-rate', 'voice-family', 'pitch', 'pitch-range', 'stress', and 'richness'
  • 19.9 Speech properties: 'speak-punctuation' and 'speak-numeral'
• Appendix A. A sample style sheet for HTML 4.0
• Appendix B. Changes from CSS1
  • B.1 New functionality
  • B.2 Updated descriptions
  • B.3 Semantic changes from CSS1
• Appendix C. Implementation and performance notes for fonts
  • C.1 Glossary of font terms
  • C.2 Font retrieval
  • C.3 Meaning of the Panose Digits
  • C.4 Deducing Unicode Ranges for TrueType
  • C.5 Automatic descriptor generation
• Appendix D. The grammar of CSS2
  • D.1 Grammar
  • D.2 Lexical scanner
  • D.3 Comparison of tokenization in CSS2 and CSS1
• Appendix E. References
  • E.1 Normative references
  • E.2 Informative references
• Appendix F. Property index
• Appendix G. Descriptor index
• Appendix H. Index