Sass simple-selectors() Function

Posted in Sass Tutorial

Updated on Sep 30, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 21 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

The simple-selectors() function in Sass is a lesser-known but highly useful utility for working with CSS selectors. It allows you to break down a complex selector into its individual simple selectors, which are the smallest units of a selector.

This function is particularly handy when you need to manipulate or analyze CSS selectors programmatically within your Sass code.

💡 Syntax

The syntax of the simple-selectors() function is simple and takes one argument:

Syntax

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simple-selectors(selector)

🔢 Parameters

selector: The CSS selector you want to decompose into simple selectors. It can be a compound selector like .class1.class2#id.

↩️ Return Value

The function returns a list of simple selectors extracted from the given complex selector.

📝 Example Usage

Let's explore some examples to understand how simple-selectors() works and how it can be applied in different scenarios.

📜 Example 1: Breaking Down a Class Selector

example.scss

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$selector: '.class1.class2';
$simple-selectors: simple-selectors($selector);

body::after {
  content: inspect($simple-selectors); // Outputs: ('.class1', '.class2')
}

In this example, the function breaks down the complex selector .class1.class2 into two simple selectors: .class1 and .class2.

📜 Example 2: Handling ID and Class Selectors

example.scss

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$selector: '#id1.class1.class2';
$simple-selectors: simple-selectors($selector);

body::after {
  content: inspect($simple-selectors); // Outputs: ('#id1', '.class1', '.class2')
}

Here, the selector #id1.class1.class2 is split into an ID selector #id1 and two class selectors .class1 and .class2.

📜 Example 3: Using Simple Selectors in a Loop

example.scss

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$selector: '.class1#id1.class2';

@each $simple-selector in simple-selectors($selector) {
  .selector-#{$simple-selector} {
    content: "#{$simple-selector}";
  }
}

This example iterates over each simple selector in the complex selector .class1#id1.class2, generating corresponding CSS rules.

🎉 Conclusion

The simple-selectors() function in Sass is a powerful tool for developers who need to break down and manipulate complex CSS selectors. Whether you're writing a Sass mixin that needs to process selectors or debugging complex selector issues, simple-selectors() can simplify your task by providing easy access to the individual components of a selector.

Understanding and utilizing the simple-selectors() function can give you more control over your styles and help you write more maintainable and modular Sass code. This function is especially useful in advanced Sass workflows where dynamic manipulation of selectors is required.

Experiment with simple-selectors() to discover how it can enhance your Sass development process!