ACSS

ACSS is annotations based CSS processing tool built with PostCSS.

Installation

$ npm install -g acss

Example

input.css:

@import url("test/fixtures/import.css");
 
.base-1 {
  /*
   * @base
   * @constant
   */
  font-size: 12px;
  padding: 8px 16px;
}
 
.base-2 {
  /*
   * @base
   */
  color: red;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @use .base-1
   */
  background-color: green;
}
 
.too-long-and-ugly-selector-name {
  /*
   * @use .base-2
   */
  margin: 10px;
}

Processed with the following command:

$ acss input.css output.css

output.css (Yields):

/* Inline expand import.css */
.imprt {
  color: blue;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @base
   * @constant
   */
  font-size: 12px;
  padding: 8px 16px;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @use .base-1
   */
  background-color: green;
}
 
.too-long-and-ugly-selector-name {
  /*
   * @use .base-2
   */
  margin: 10px;
  color: red;
}

Why Annotations

ACSS is 'Annotations based CSS processor'. Using metadata to process CSS as annotations in comment, browsers can read prior code to be processed.

So, can devide styles for each environment (development or production).

We often make rules known as utility classes. For example, .pdt-10 as padding-top: 10px, .bg-gray as background-color: #c3c9c9. There are some CSS frameworks has many utility classes like BASSCSS. These are very usefull, because we can fine-tune design to suit our request.

But, utility classes are too low level to use as it is. Because using execessive multiple classes do not change so much as inline style in HTML, and not aware of the semantic.

Using ACSS, you can make semantic classes in production environment.

Ex:

.btn {
  /*
   * @base
   */
 
  /* base button declarations */
}
 
.btn-blue {
  /*
   * @base
   */
 
  /* to color button red */
}
 
.btn-lg {
  /*
   * @base
   */
 
  /* to enlarge button */
}
 
.btn-next {
  /*
   * @use .btn, .btn-blue, .btn-lg
   */
 
   /* extend rules for button, you can define rules with semantic names */
}

Features

Constant block

The Rule sets are surrounded by @start constant and @end constant annotations cannot cascade.

/* @start constant */
.class {
  color: red;
}
 
.class {
  color: blue; /* Error */
}
 
.nested .class {
  padding: 0; /* Error */
}
 
.child > .class {
    background-color: red; /* Error */
}
/* @end constant */

High performance inheritance of other rules

The function to inherit other rules of ACSS is defferent from @extend of existing CSS preprocessors like Sass.

Sass's @extend can only duplicate its selectors to base ones. For example, when the declarations in base rules are too short or in media queries, or the selector inheritance destination rules is too long, duplicating its selector like Sass's @extend is not good consider file size.

In this case, the good behavior is expanding declarations in the base rule to inheritance destination rules.

ACSS provides the interface to inherit other rules, @use. And, ACSS processor automatically choose the most appropriate method to inherit.

input.css:

.base-1 {
  /*
   * @base
   */
  font-size: 12px;
  padding: 8px 16px;
}
 
.base-2 {
  /*
   * @base
   */
  color: red;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @use .base-1
   */
  background-color: green;
}
 
.too-long-and-ugly-selector-name {
  /*
   * @use .base-2
   */
  margin: 10px;
}

output.css (Yields):

.class {
  /*
   * @base
   */
  font-size: 12px;
  padding: 8px 16px;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @use .base-1
   */
  background-color: green;
}
 
.too-long-and-ugly-selector-name {
  /*
   * @use .base-2
   */
  margin: 10px;
  color: red;
}

Using plugins

• autoprefixer
• postcss-constant
• postcss-extend
• postcss-include
• postcss-import
• postcss-important
• postcss-acss-constant
• postcss-acss-inherit

Annotations syntax

@constant

Rule sets using @constant, cannot override the rule set with the same selector.

Ex:

.class {
  /*
   * @constant
   */
   padding: 10px 14px;
}
 
.class {
  padding: 0;
}

Run error

@base

Rule sets using @base, is the rule sets that is inherited from the other ones.

Rules with @base do not output to css file after processing.

.base-class {
  /*
   * @base
   */
   color: red;
}

@extend

Using @extend, you can inherit other rule sets defined with @base.

@extend get one or more arguments, it's just selectors in @base rule sets.

.base-1 {
  /*
   * @base
   */
   color: red;
}
 
.base-2 {
  /*
   * @base
   * @constant
   */
   font-size: 14px;
   padding: 12px 16px;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @extend .base-1, .base-2
   */
}

Process above code. Yield:

.class {
  /*
   * @base
   */
   color: red;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @base
   * @constant
   */
   font-size: 14px;
   padding: 12px 16px;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @extend .base-1, .base-2
   */
}

@include

.base-1 {
  /*
   * @base
   */
   color: red;
}
 
.base-2 {
  /*
   * @base
   * @constant
   */
   font-size: 14px;
   padding: 12px 16px;
}
 
.class {
  /*
   * @include .base-1, .base-2
   */
}

Process above code. Yield:

.class {
  /*
   * @include .base-1, .base-2
   */
   color: red;
   font-size: 14px;
   padding: 12px 16px;
}

@important

Using @important, you can manage properties have !impotant at one place.

.class {
  /*
   * @important font-size, padding
   */
   color: red;
   font-size: 12px;
   padding: 12px;
}

Process above code. Yield:

.class {
  /*
   * @important font-size, padding
   */
   color: red;
   font-size: 12px !important;
   padding: 12px !important;
}

See also postcss-important.

@start constant & @end constant

@use

Options

$ acss --help

Usage: acss input-name output-name [options]

Options:

  -c, --compress    use output compression
  -V, --versions    output the version number
  -h, --help        output usage information

Option projects

• grunt-acss
• gulp-acss

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2014 Masaaki Morishita