PostCSS Start To End

PostCSS plugin that lets you control your layout (ltr or rtl) through logical rather than direction / physical rules.

Inspired by Flexbox and CSS Grid syntax, use start or end to output left or right depending on document direction (rtl or ltr).

Input

.foo {
    padding-start: 1rem;
    border-end: 1rem solid teal;
}

Output

.foo {
   padding-left: 1rem;
   border-right: 1rem solid teal;
}

Usage

postcss([
    require('postcss-start-to-end'),
    require('postcss-reporter') // show warnings - check options to know more
])

With some options

postcss([
    require('postcss-start-to-end')({
        direction: 'RTL',
        warnings: false,
    }),
    require('postcss-reporter')
]);

Options

direction

Default writing mode of CSS. Type: string Default: 'LTR' Values: 'LTR', 'RTL'

Input

.item {
    border-start: 1px solid teal;
    padding: 0 3rem 0 0;
}

output with direction: 'LTR'

.item {
    border-left: 1px solid teal;
    padding: 0 3rem 0 0;
}

output with direction: 'RTL'

.item {
    border-right: 1px solid teal;
    padding: 0 0 0 3rem;
}

warnings

Output on CLI warnings about properties / rules found that don't follow start-to-end syntax. Type: boolean Default: true Values: true, false

Example

.item {
    margin-left: 10%;
}

Console warning if direction: ltr:

margin-left: 10%; found on line 2. Replace it by margin-start to support LTR and RTL directions.

Console warning if direction: rtl:

margin-left: 10%; found on line 2. Replace it by margin-end to support LTR and RTL directions.

ignoreNodeModules

Ignore any CSS file inside /node_modules folder. Type: boolean Default: true Values: true, false

Rules supported

BONUS: Convert your existing code to this syntax

Don't you feel like find/replace rules in each one of your *.css files?

No worries, I built a simple tool that does that for you. You just need to tell where you want to run the converter (folder or file.css). By default it runs in src folder

Input

.item {
    padding-left: 5rem;
    margin-right : 1rem;
    float:left;
}

Convert from LTR layout

Convert by default runs on src folder node node_modules/postcss-start-to-end/convert

Set a specific folder to run: node node_modules/postcss-start-to-end/convert src/components

Set a specific file to run: node node_modules/postcss-start-to-end/convert styles/index.css

Output

.item {
    padding-start: 5rem;
    margin-end : 1rem;
    float:start;
}

Convert RTL layout

Convert by default runs on src folder node node_modules/postcss-start-to-end/convert --rtl

Set a specific folder to run: node node_modules/postcss-start-to-end/convert src/components --rtl

Set a specific file to run: node node_modules/postcss-start-to-end/convert styles/index.css --rtl

Output

.item {
    padding-end: 5rem;
    margin-start : 1rem;
    float:end;
}

F.A.Q.

Why should I use this instead of plugins that convert *-left to *-right and vice-versa?

This is not a replacement of those kind of plugins.

This is a plugin to let you write code with a logical thought in mind rather than a physical/direction one.

Then if you need to convert the outputted CSS to the opposite direction you might want to try postcss-rtl.

Is this tested?

• The PostCSS Plugin has 100% coverage test with all possible scenarios that crossed my mind.
• The Converter tests will be added soon!
• Don't fear: Travis-ci is doing it's job!

Motivation | References

There is a CSS Draft Spec about CSS Logical Properties in Level 1. Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, I decided to keep this plugin syntax simple and straight following what is already defined without adding more sugar.

Contribute

Any doubts or suggestions you may have, feel free to create an issue on github repository.

License

MIT License