CSS Selectors

Below are the CSS selectors supported by Prince. For their precise definition please refer to the CSS specification - Prince largely implements Selectors Level 4.

Terminology and Definitions

selector	Can refer to a simple selector, compound selector, complex selector, or selector list.
selector list	A comma-separate list of selectors.
compound selector	A chain of simple selectors that are not separated by a combinator.
simple selector	Either a type selector, universal selector, attribute selector, class selector, ID selector, or pseudo-class.
relative selector	A shorthand for selectors that represent elements relative to a :scope element.
combinator	Punctuation that represents a particular kind of relationship between compound selectors on either side.
An+B	This micro-syntax to indicate indexes in a list of sibling elements represents an integer step (A) and offset (B), i.e. it indicates the An+Bth elements in a list. It also takes the keywords odd and even.
expanded element name	The tuple of local element name and namespace name.

Logical Combinations

Selector List
E, F, G	A comma-separated list of selectors represents all the elements selected by each selector of the list.
The Matches-Any Pseudo-class
:is( <forgiving-selector-list> )	The matches-any pseudo-class represents any element that is represented by the list of compound selectors it takes as argument.
The Negation (Matches-None) Pseudo-class
:not( <complex-real-selector-list> )	The negation pseudo-class represents an element that is not represented by the list of compound selectors it takes as argument.
The Specificity-adjustment Pseudo-class
:where( <forgiving-selector-list> )	The specificity-adjustment pseudo-class has the same syntax as the matches-any pseudo-class selector :is(), but neither the selector itself, nor any of its arguments contribute to the specificity of the selector, the specificity always being zero.
The Relational Pseudo-class
:has( <relative-selector-list> )	The relational pseudo-class represents an element, if either of the relative selectors in the list, when evaluated with the element as the :scope element, match an element.
The Contains Pseudo-class
:contains(foo)	The contains pseudo-class represents an element containing the text foo.

Elemental Selectors

Type (tag name) selectors
E	A type selector representing an element E in the default namespace.
|E	A type selector representing an element E in no namespace.
ns|E	A type selector representing an element E in the namespace ns.
*|E	A type selector representing an element E in any or no namespace.
Universal selectors
*	A universal selector representing all elements in the default namespace.
|*	A universal selector representing all elements in no namespace.
ns|*	A type selector representing all elements in the namespace ns.
*|*	A type selector representing all elements.

Attribute Selectors

Case-sensitivity of the attributes and values depends on the document language. To match values case-insensitively, the attribute selector may contain the identifier i before the closing bracket. (Example: [att=val i])

Default namespaces do not apply to attributes. Therefore a namespace ns that has been previously declared should be added before the namespace separator | preceding the attribute name.

Attribute presence and value selectors
[att]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute.
[att=val]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute with the value val.
[att~=val]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute containing the value val.
[att|=val]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute equal to or beginning with the value val.
Substring matching attribute selectors
[att^=val]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute whose value begins with the prefix val.
[att$=val]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute whose value ends with the suffix val.
[att*=val]	An attribute selector representing an element with the att attribute whose value contains val.
Class selectors
.val	A class selector representing a class identifier val.
ID selectors
#val	An ID selector representing an ID identifier val.

Linguistic Pseudo-classes

The directionality pseudo-class
:dir(C)	The directionality pseudo-class selects an element based on its directionality as determined by the document language, using a combination of the dir attribute, the surrounding text, and other factors - it does not select based on stylistic states, but uses the user agent's knowledge of the document's semantics.
The language pseudo-class
:lang(C)	The language pseudo-class represents an element that is in the language C.

Input Pseudo-classes

The input control states
:enabled	The :enabled pseudo-class represents user interface elements that are in the enabled state.
:disabled	The :disabled pseudo-class represents user interface elements that are in the disabled state.
:read-write	The :read-write pseudo-class matches an element that is user-alterable.
:read-only	The :read-only pseudo-class matches an element that is not user-alterable.
The input value state
:checked	The :checked pseudo-class represents user interface elements such as radio and checkbox elements that are selected by the user.

Location Pseudo-classes

The Hyperlink Pseudo-classes
:any-link	The :any-link pseudo-class applies to an element that acts as the source anchor of a hyperlink, such as any <a> or <area> elements with an href attribute.
The Link History Pseudo-classes
:link	The :link pseudo-class applies to hyperlinks that have not yet been visited.
:visited	The :visited pseudo-class applies to visited hyperlinks.
The contextual reference element pseudo-class
:scope	The contextual reference element pseudo-class represents an element being a designated contextual reference element. :scope is supported in conjunction with :has(), meaning that :scope matches the element that :has() is applied to.

Tree-Structural pseudo-classes

The :root pseudo-class
:root	The :root pseudo-class represents an element that is the root of the document. In HTML 4 this is always the HTML element.
The :empty pseudo-class
:empty	The :empty pseudo-class represents an element that has no children at all.
The child-indexed pseudo-classes
:nth-child(An+B of S)	The :nth-child(An+B) pseudo-class represents the An+Bth element that matches the selector list S among its inclusive siblings.
:nth-last-child(An+B of S)	The :nth-last-child(An+B) pseudo-class represents the An+Bth element that matches the selector list S among its inclusive siblings, counting backwards from the end.
:first-child	The :first-child pseudo-class represents an element that is first among its inclusive siblings.
:last-child	The :last-child pseudo-class represents an element that is last among its inclusive siblings.
:only-child	The :only-child pseudo-class represents an element that has no siblings.
The typed child-indexed pseudo-classes
:nth-of-type(An+B)	The :nth-of-type(An+B) pseudo-class represents the An+Bth element with the same namespace and type among its inclusive siblings.
:nth-last-of-type(An+B)	The :nth-last-of-type(An+B) pseudo-class represents the An+Bth element with the same namespace and type among its inclusive siblings, counting backwards from the end.
:first-of-type	The :first-of-type pseudo-class represents an element that is the first with a particular namespace and type among its inclusive siblings.
:last-of-type	The :last-of-type pseudo-class represents an element that is the first with a particular namespace and type among its inclusive siblings, counting backwards from the end.
:only-of-type	The :only-of-type pseudo-class represents an element that has no siblings with the same namespace and type.

Combinators

Descendant combinator
E F	An F element descendant of an E element.
E >> F
Child combinator
E > F	An F element child of an E element.
Next-sibling combinator
E + F	An F element immediately preceded by an E element.
Following-sibling combinator
E ~ F	An F element preceded by an E element.

Tree-Abiding Pseudo-element Selectors

Generated content pseudo-elements
::before	Represents a styleable child pseudo-element immediately before the originating element's actual content.
::after	Represents a styleable child pseudo-element immediately after the originating element's actual content.
List markers
::marker	Represents the automatically generated marker box of a list item.

Typographic Pseudo-element Selectors

The ::first-line pseudo-element
::first-line	Represents the content of the formatted line of the originating element.
The ::first-letter pseudo-element
::first-letter	Represents the first typographic letter unit of the first formatted line of the originating element, if it is not preceded by other content.

Footnote Pseudo-element Selectors

The ::footnote-call pseudo-element
::footnote-call	Represents the footnote calls, i.e. the anchors that refer to footnotes.
The ::footnote-marker pseudo-element
::footnote-marker	Represents the footnote markers placed in front of the actual footnote text.

Page Selectors

The :first and :nth page selectors
:first	Represents first page of the document.
:nth(N)	Represents the Nth page of the document: @page:nth(42) {...}
:first-of-group	Represents the first page of a page group.
:nth-of-group(N)	Represents the Nth page of a page group.
Page spread selectors
:left	Represents a left page in a page spread.
:right	Represents a right page in a page spread.
:recto	Represents a page in a page spread - in a left-to-right script it selects the right-hand side of a spread, while in a right-to-left script it selects the left-hand side of a spread.
:verso	Represents a page in a page spread - in a left-to-right script it selects the left-hand side of a spread, while in a right-to-left script it selects the right-hand side of a spread.
The blank page selector
:blank	Represents blank pages in the document.

Nesting selectors

Nesting selector
&	When used inside a nested style rule, it represents the elements matched by the parent rule; otherwise it represents the same elements as :scope.