cssom

What is cssom?

The cssom npm package is a library for parsing CSS files and manipulating CSSOM (CSS Object Model). It allows users to parse CSS strings into a stylesheet object, manipulate CSS rules, and serialize CSS objects back to strings. It is useful for server-side processing of CSS files or for any environment where a DOM is not present.

What are cssom's main functionalities?

Parsing CSS strings

This feature allows you to parse a string of CSS into a CSSOM object, which can then be manipulated or queried.

const CSSOM = require('cssom');
const cssText = 'body { font-size: 12px; }';
const parsedCSS = CSSOM.parse(cssText);
console.log(parsedCSS);

Manipulating CSS rules

After parsing CSS, you can manipulate the CSS rules, such as changing the font size from 12px to 14px in this example.

const CSSOM = require('cssom');
const cssText = 'body { font-size: 12px; }';
const parsedCSS = CSSOM.parse(cssText);
parsedCSS.cssRules[0].style.setProperty('font-size', '14px');
console.log(parsedCSS.toString());

Serializing CSSOM to string

This feature allows you to serialize the manipulated CSSOM back into a CSS string, which can then be used in a style tag or an external stylesheet.

const CSSOM = require('cssom');
const cssText = 'body { font-size: 12px; }';
const parsedCSS = CSSOM.parse(cssText);
parsedCSS.cssRules[0].style.setProperty('font-size', '14px');
const serializedCSS = parsedCSS.toString();
console.log(serializedCSS);

Other packages similar to cssom

jsdom

jsdom is a JavaScript implementation of many web standards, including the DOM and the HTML standards. It allows for the parsing and manipulation of HTML and CSS documents in Node.js. Compared to cssom, jsdom provides a more complete simulation of a web browser's environment, including both HTML and CSS parsing, which makes it heavier but more powerful for certain use cases.

postcss

postcss is a tool for transforming CSS with JavaScript plugins. It can parse CSS into an abstract syntax tree (AST), traverse and modify nodes, and generate modified CSS. Unlike cssom, which focuses on the CSS Object Model, postcss is more about applying transformations and optimizations to CSS files and is often used in build processes.

stylecow

stylecow is a CSS parser, manipulator, and polyfiller. It is similar to cssom in that it allows for parsing and manipulation of CSS, but it also includes features to help developers write modern CSS code that works in older browsers. It has a plugin system for extending its capabilities, which makes it more versatile than cssom for certain tasks.