Declaring Constants in a CSS file?

[AlistairH]

Is this possible?

In a css file I have a whole load of elements that have similar settings, colour for example. If I wanted to change the colour during the design phase I don't want to have to go and edit every reference to that colour. In a CSS file can a constant be declared to which a colour is assigned with the elemnets concerned referencing the constant so that all can be changed simply by changing the colour assigned to the constant?

[mwinter]

Declaring Constants in a CSS file?

Is this possible?

No, but there are alternatives.

The first is to combine common declarations into a single rule with multiple selectors. Consider the snippet below, which was posted on Usenet recently:

.titlejgloss {
  background : #91eaff;
  border-color : #808080;
  border-style : inset;
  border-width : 1px;
  display : block;
  font-family : Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
  font-size : 200%;
  font-weight : bold;
  padding : 5px;
  margin-bottom : 10px;
  margin-top : 0px;
}
 
.titlebgloss {
  background : red;
  border-color : #808080;
  border-style : inset;
  border-width : 1px;
  display : block;
  font-family : Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
  font-size : 200%;
  font-weight : bold;
  padding : 5px;
  margin-bottom : 10px;
  margin-top : 0px;
}

The only thing that is different between them is the background property. It could be replaced by:

.titlejgloss,
.titlebgloss {
  border: 1px inset #808080;
  display: block;
  font: bold 200% Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  padding: 5px;
  margin: 0 0 10px;
}

.titlejgloss {
  background: #91eaff;
}
 
.titlebgloss {
  background: red;
}

Notice the comma that separates the two class selectors. This could be applied to your situation.

If that isn't adequate, then use a preprocessor of some kind to expand macros within the file. You could use PHP, for instance, on the command line to generate a CSS file from a PHP file, and upload the output.

Mike

[AlistairH]

That'll do nicely. Thanks Mike.