O'Reilly Book Excerpts: JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook
Cooking with JavaScript & DHTML, Part 4
|
Related Reading 
JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook |
Editor's note: Short and sweet: that's what our latest sample recipe from JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook is: a quick and simple solution to importing browser- or operating system-specific style sheets. This week's excerpt is from Chapter 11 on "Managing Style Sheets." And next week's recipe will also come from the same chapter--check back here then to learn how to read effective style sheet property values.
Recipe 11.5: Importing Browser- or Operating System-Specific Style Sheets
NN 4, IE 4
Problem
You want to load separate external style sheet files for users on different kinds of computers.
Solution
Use JavaScript to write <link> tags within the head portion of the page, branching according to
operating-system detection. The following example loads different style sheet
files for Mac users and all other users:
<head>
...
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
var cssFile = (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Mac") != -1) ?
"styles/macCSS.css" : "styles/pcCSS.css";
document.write("<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='" + cssFile + "'>");
</script>
...
</head>You can combine the browser- or operating system-specific external style
sheets with other fixed <link> elements in the same
page, as well as other kinds of style sheet definitions or @import rules (where supported). If your content observes the
strict version of XHTML, and you want dynamically generated code to also be in
that form, you can use the following document.write( )
call instead:
document.write("<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='" + cssFile + "' />");To simplify the validation of your script under strict XHTML, you can move the CSS file loading statements to an external .js file.
Discussion
Employing multiple style sheets for different browsers or operating systems imposes the same maintenance headaches as multiple page implementations for different browsers. Any change you make to the design needs to be adapted for each version and tested thoroughly on the designated platforms. And yet, some applications of CSS styles may create an imperative for separate style sheet rules for Internet Explorer for Windows versions that are not fully CSS-compatible (see Recipe 11.13).
See Also
Recipe 11.13 of JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook about the impact on IE 6 for Windows by CSS-compatibility mode; Recipe 5.5 for detecting the browser's operating system.
Danny Goodman has been writing about technology and computers full-time since 1981 and is the author of Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference and "The Complete HyperCard Handbook."
Return to the Web Development DevCenter.
