{"id":181,"date":"2014-12-04T09:43:38","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sircodex.com\/?p=181"},"modified":"2014-12-04T09:43:38","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:43:38","slug":"css3-gems-the-calc-function","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sircodex.com\/css3-gems-the-calc-function\/","title":{"rendered":"CSS3 Gems: The calc() Function"},"content":{"rendered":"
There are many hidden gems in the modular CSS3 specifications. In this post we\u2019ll look at calc(); an incredibly useful property which may change the way you approach layout design.<\/p>\n

The CSS3 calc() function is primarily used to calculate lengths, numbers, angles, transition\/animation times or sound frequencies. However, it allows you to mix measurement types \u2014 a powerful concept in CSS.<\/p>\n

Consider a website layout containing two floated elements. You want both elements to be an equal width separated by a 60px horizontal margin. Sounds easy? It\u2019s not a problem in fixed-width design; if the page width is 960px, both elements will be 450px.<\/p>\n

But what about fluid or responsive layouts? It\u2019s not possible to determine the page width so most developers would set each element to, say, 45%. The 10% margin will only be 60px if the page happens to be 600px; a wider or narrower browser window will enlarge or contract the margin accordingly.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the new calc() function allows us to calculate widths. In this case, we want both elements to be 50% minus 30px, e.g.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
1<\/div>\n
2<\/div>\n
3<\/div>\n
4<\/div>\n
5<\/div>\n
6<\/div>\n
7<\/div>\n
8<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
#element<\/code>1<\/code>, #element<\/code>2<\/code> { <\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>float<\/code>: <\/code>left<\/code>;<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: calc(<\/code>50%<\/code> - <\/code>30px<\/code>);<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
#element<\/code>2<\/code> { <\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>margin-left<\/code>: <\/code>60px<\/code>;<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Perhaps you want a margin which is relative to the font size \u2014 such as 4em? No problem:<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
1<\/div>\n
2<\/div>\n
3<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
#element<\/code>1<\/code>, #element<\/code>2<\/code> {<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: calc(<\/code>50%<\/code> - <\/code>2em<\/code>);<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Or maybe you want a 2px border around both elements:<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
1<\/div>\n
2<\/div>\n
3<\/div>\n
4<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
#element<\/code>1<\/code>, #element<\/code>2<\/code> { <\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: calc(<\/code>50%<\/code> - <\/code>2em<\/code> - <\/code>4px<\/code>);<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>border<\/code>: <\/code>2px<\/code> solid<\/code> #000<\/code>;<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I recommend you keep calculations simple, but it\u2019s possible to use complex formulas, e.g.<\/p>\n

 #element1, #element2 { width: calc((50% + 2em)\/2 + 14px); } <\/code><\/pre>\n
Browser Support<\/h2>\n
The calc() function is a W3C recommendation so guess which browser offers native support?<\/p>\n
You\u2019re wrong. At the time of writing, it\u2019s just Internet Explorer 9. Firefox also supports it with a prefix; -moz-calc(). It\u2019s not been implemented in webkit (Chrome and Safari) or Opera yet but, it\u2019s so useful, I suspect we won\u2019t need to wait long.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, you can use progressive enhancement in your stylesheets:<\/p>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
1<\/div>\n
2<\/div>\n
3<\/div>\n
4<\/div>\n
5<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
#element<\/code>1<\/code>, #element<\/code>2<\/code> {<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: <\/code>45%<\/code>; <\/code>\/* all browsers *\/<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: -moz-calc(<\/code>50%<\/code> - <\/code>30px<\/code>); <\/code>\/* Firefox 4+ *\/<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: calc(<\/code>50%<\/code> - <\/code>30px<\/code>); <\/code>\/* IE9+ and future browsers *\/<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Remember that you\u2019d also need to adjust margins accordingly, e.g.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
1<\/div>\n
2<\/div>\n
3<\/div>\n
4<\/div>\n
5<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
#element<\/code>2<\/code> {<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>margin-left<\/code>: <\/code>10%<\/code>; <\/code>\/* all browsers *\/<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>margin-left<\/code>: -moz-calc(<\/code>60px<\/code>); <\/code>\/* Firefox 4+ *\/<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>margin-left<\/code>: calc(<\/code>60px<\/code>); <\/code>\/* IE9+ and future browsers *\/<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
CSS3 min() and max()<\/h2>\n
If you like calc(), you\u2019ll love the min() and max() functions. They accept two or more comma-separated values and return the minimum or maximum accordingly, e.g.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
1<\/div>\n
2<\/div>\n
3<\/div>\n
4<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n
#myelement {<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>width<\/code>: max(<\/code>300px<\/code>, <\/code>30%<\/code>, <\/code>30em<\/code>);<\/code><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/code>font-size<\/code>: min(<\/code>10px<\/code>, <\/code>0.6em<\/code>);<\/code><\/div>\n
}<\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The functions will be especially useful when using relative font sizes to ensure text does not become too large or small.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, min() and max() are not currently supported in any of the latest browsers. Let\u2019s hope they appear soon.<\/p>\n
Source Link: http:\/\/www.sitepoint.com\/css3-calc-function\/<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are many hidden gems in the modular CSS3 specifications. In this post we\u2019ll look at calc(); an incredibly useful property which may change the way you approach layout design. The CSS3 calc() function is primarily used to calculate lengths, numbers, angles, transition\/animation times or sound frequencies. However, it allows you to mix measurement types […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-css3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nCSS3 Gems: The calc() Function - Sir Codex<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sircodex.com\/css3-gems-the-calc-function\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CSS3 Gems: The calc() Function - Sir Codex\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are many hidden gems in the modular CSS3 specifications. 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