1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
|
---
title: Kurzformat Eigenschaft
slug: Web/CSS/Shorthand_properties
translation_of: Web/CSS/Shorthand_properties
original_slug: Web/CSS/Kurzformat_Eigenschaft
---
<div>{{cssref}}</div>
<p class="summary"><strong><dfn>Shorthand properties</dfn></strong> are CSS properties that let you set the values of multiple other CSS properties simultaneously. Using a shorthand property, you can write more concise (and often more readable) style sheets, saving time and energy.</p>
<p>The CSS specification defines shorthand properties to group the definition of common properties acting on the same theme. For instance, the CSS {{cssxref("background")}} property is a shorthand property that's able to define the values of {{cssxref("background-color")}}, {{cssxref("background-image")}}, {{cssxref("background-repeat")}}, and {{cssxref("background-position")}}. Similarly, the most common font-related properties can be defined using the shorthand {{cssxref("font")}}, and the different margins around a box can be defined using the {{cssxref("margin")}} shorthand.</p>
<h2 id="Tricky_edge_cases" name="Tricky_edge_cases">Tricky edge cases</h2>
<p>Even if they are very convenient to use, there are a few edge cases to keep in mind when using them:</p>
<ol>
<li>A value which is not specified is set to its initial value. That sounds anecdotal, but it really means that it <strong>overrides</strong> previously set values. Therefore:
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">background-color: red;
background: url(images/bg.gif) no-repeat left top;
</pre>
will not set the color of the background to <code>red</code> but to {{cssxref("background-color")}}'s default, <code>transparent</code>, as the second rule has precedence.</li>
<li>Only the individual properties values can inherit. As missing values are replaced by their initial value, it is impossible to allow inheritance of individual properties by omitting them. The keyword <code>inherit</code> can be applied to a property, but only as a whole, not as a keyword for one value or another. That means that the only way to make some specific value to be inherited is to use the longhand property with the keyword <code>inherit</code>.</li>
<li>Shorthand properties try not to force a specific order for the values of the properties they replace. This works well when these properties use values of different types, as the order has no importance, but this does not work as easily when several properties can have identical values. Handling of these cases are grouped in several categories:
<ol>
<li>Shorthands handling properties related to edges of a box, like {{cssxref("border-style")}}, {{cssxref("margin")}} or {{cssxref("padding")}}, always use a consistent 1-to-4-value syntax representing those edges:
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 79px;"><img alt="border1.png" src="/files/3646/border1.png"></td>
<td><em>The 1-value syntax</em>: <code>border-width: 1em</code> — The unique value represents all edges</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="border2.png" src="/files/3647/border2.png"></td>
<td><em>The 2-value syntax</em>: <code>border-width: 1em 2em</code> — The first value represents the vertical, that is top and bottom, edges, the second the horizontal ones, that is the left and right ones.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="border3.png" src="/files/3648/border3.png"></td>
<td><em>The 3-value syntax</em>: <code>border-width: 1em 2em 3em</code> — The first value represents the top edge, the second, the horizontal, that is left and right, ones, and the third value the bottom edge</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="border4.png" src="/files/3649/border4.png"></td>
<td>
<p><em>The 4-value syntax</em>: <code>border-width: 1em 2em 3em 4em</code> — The four values represent the top, right, bottom and left edges respectively, always in that order, that is clock-wise starting at the top (The initial letter of Top-Right-Bottom-Left matches the order of the consonant of the word <em>trouble</em>: TRBL) (You can also remember it as the order that the hands would rotate on a clock: <code>1em</code> starts in the 12 o'clock position, then <code>2em</code> in the 3 o'clock position, then <code>3em</code> in the 6 o'clock position, and <code>4em</code> in the 9 o'clock position).</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>
<li>Similarly, shorthands handling properties related to corners of a box, like {{cssxref("border-radius")}}, always use a consistent 1-to-4-value syntax representing those corners:
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 69px;"><img alt="corner1.png" src="/files/3650/corner1.png"></td>
<td><em>The 1-value syntax</em>: <code>border-radius: 1em</code> — The unique value represents all corners</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="corner2.png" src="/files/3651/corner2.png"></td>
<td><em>The 2-value syntax</em>: <code>border-radius: 1em 2em</code> — The first value represents the top left and bottom right corner, the second the top right and bottom left ones.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="corner3.png" src="/files/3652/corner3.png"></td>
<td><em>The 3-value syntax</em>: <code>border-radius: 1em 2em 3em</code> — The first value represents the top left corner, the second the top right and bottom left ones, and the third value the bottom right corner</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img alt="corner4.png" src="/files/3653/corner4.png"></td>
<td>
<p><em>The 4-value syntax</em>: <code>border-radius: 1em 2em 3em 4em</code> — The four values represent the top left, top right, bottom right and bottom left corners respectively, always in that order, that is clock-wise starting at the top left.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="Background_Properties" name="Background_Properties">Background properties</h2>
<p>A background with the following properties ...</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">background-color: #000;
background-image: url(images/bg.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: left top;</pre>
<p>... can be shortened to just one declaration:</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">background: #000 url(images/bg.gif) no-repeat left top;</pre>
<p>(The shorthand form is actually the equivalent of the longhand properties above plus <code>background-attachment: scroll</code> and, in CSS3, some additional properties.)</p>
<p>See {{cssxref("background")}} for more detailed information, including CSS3 properties.</p>
<h2 id="Font_Properties" name="Font_Properties">Font properties</h2>
<p>The following declarations ...</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">font-style: italic;
font-weight: bold;
font-size: .8em;
line-height: 1.2;
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;</pre>
<p>... can be shortened to the following:</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">font: italic bold .8em/1.2 Arial, sans-serif;</pre>
<p>This shorthand declaration is actually equivalent to the longhand declarations above plus <code>font-variant: normal</code> and <code>font-size-adjust: none</code> (CSS2.0 / CSS3), <code>font-stretch: normal</code> (CSS3).</p>
<h2 id="Border_Properties" name="Border_Properties">Border properties</h2>
<p>With borders, the width, color, and style can be simplified into one declaration. For example, the following CSS ...</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">border-width: 1px;
border-style: solid;
border-color: #000;</pre>
<p>... can be simplified as:</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">border: 1px solid #000;</pre>
<h2 id="Margin_and_Padding_Properties" name="Margin_and_Padding_Properties">Margin and padding properties</h2>
<p>Shorthand versions of margin and padding values work similarly; the margin property allows for shorthand values to be specified using one, two, three, or four values. The following CSS declarations ...</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">margin-top: 10px;
margin-right: 5px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
margin-left: 5px;</pre>
<p>... are the same as the following declaration using the four value shorthand. Note that the values are in clockwise order, beginning at the top: top, right, bottom, then left (TRBL, the consonants in "trouble").</p>
<pre class="brush:css notranslate">margin: 10px 5px 10px 5px;</pre>
<p>Margin shorthand rules for one, two, three and four value declarations are:</p>
<ul>
<li>When <strong>one</strong> value is specified, it applies the same margin to <strong>all four sides</strong>.</li>
<li>When <strong>two</strong> values are specified, the first margin applies to the <strong>top and bottom</strong>, the second to the <strong>left and right</strong>.</li>
<li>When <strong>three</strong> values are specified, the first margin applies to the <strong>top</strong>, the second to the <strong>left and right</strong>, the third to the <strong>bottom</strong>.</li>
<li>When <strong>four</strong> values are specified, the margins apply to the <strong>top</strong>, <strong>right</strong>, <strong>bottom</strong>, and <strong>left</strong> in that order (clockwise).</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="The_universal_shorthand_property" name="The_universal_shorthand_property">The universal shorthand property</h2>
<p>CSS provides a universal shorthand property, {{cssxref("all")}}, which applies its value to every property in the document. Its purpose is to change the properties' inheritance model to one of:</p>
<p>{{page("/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS/Building_blocks/Cascade_and_inheritance", "Controlling_inheritance")}}</p>
<p>See <a href="/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS/Introduction_to_CSS/Cascade_and_inheritance">Cascade and inheritance</a> or <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Cascade">Introducing the CSS Cascade</a> for more information about how inheritance works in CSS.</p>
<h2 id="See_also" name="See_also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>{{css_key_concepts}}</li>
<li>Shorthand properties: {{cssxref("animation")}}, {{cssxref("background")}}, {{cssxref("border")}}, {{cssxref("border-bottom")}}, {{cssxref("border-color")}}, {{cssxref("border-left")}}, {{cssxref("border-radius")}}, {{cssxref("border-right")}}, {{cssxref("border-style")}}, {{cssxref("border-top")}}, {{cssxref("border-width")}}, {{cssxref("column-rule")}}, {{cssxref("columns")}}, {{cssxref("flex")}}, {{cssxref("flex-flow")}}, {{cssxref("font")}}, {{cssxref("grid")}}, {{cssxref("grid-area")}}, {{cssxref("grid-column")}}, {{cssxref("grid-row")}}, {{cssxref("grid-template")}}, {{cssxref("list-style")}}, {{cssxref("margin")}}, {{cssxref("offset")}}, {{cssxref("outline")}}, {{cssxref("overflow")}}, {{cssxref("padding")}}, {{cssxref("place-content")}}, {{cssxref("place-items")}}, {{cssxref("place-self")}}, {{cssxref("text-decoration")}}, {{cssxref("transition")}}</li>
</ul>
|