doc/refactoring-the-css-with-uiprops.rst
author Pierre-Yves David <pierre-yves.david@logilab.fr>
Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:50:19 +0200
changeset 9017 aa709bc6b6c1
parent 5492 da983679fab5
child 10121 23af005426bf
permissions -rw-r--r--
[application/connect] simplify connection logic ``application.connect`` now either sets a full featured ``DBAPISession`` to the ``WebRequest`` object or raises ``AuthenticationError``. The creation and usage of a fake DBAPISession is now handled by ``main_handle_request`` when needed. This means that fake DBAPISession are no longer tracked by the session manager and that user are not given anyway to retrieve them for a later request. This fake DBAPISession is still passed to ``core_handle`` because multiple cubes like registration or forgotten password need this behavior. We would like to get ride of it in the future. This clarification of the connection API greatly simplifies ``DBAPISession`` retrieval//creation process opening the way to improvements in this area. Related to #2503918

=========================================
Refactoring the CSSs with UI properties
=========================================

Overview
=========

Managing styles progressively became difficult in CubicWeb. The
introduction of uiprops is an attempt to fix this problem.

The goal is to make it possible to use variables in our CSSs.

These variables are defined or computed in the uiprops.py python file
and inserted in the CSS using the Python string interpolation syntax.

A quick example, put in ``uiprops.py``::

  defaultBgColor = '#eee'

and in your css::

  body { background-color: %(defaultBgColor)s; }


The good practices are:

- define a variable in uiprops to avoid repetitions in the CSS
  (colors, borders, fonts, etc.)

- define a variable in uiprops when you need to compute values
  (compute a color palette, etc.)

The algorithm implemented in CubicWeb is the following:

- read uiprops file while walk up the chain of cube dependencies: if
  cube myblog depends on cube comment, the variables defined in myblog
  will have precedence over the ones in comment

- replace the %(varname)s in all the CSSs of all the cubes

Keep in mind that the browser will then interpret the CSSs and apply
the standard cascading mechanism.

FAQ
====

- How do I keep the old style?

  Put ``STYLESHEET = [data('cubicweb.old.css')]`` in your uiprops.py
  file and think about something else.

- What are the changes in cubicweb.css?

  Version 3.9.0 of cubicweb changed the following in the default html
  markup and css:

  ===============  ==================================
   old              new
  ===============  ==================================
   .navcol          #navColumnLeft, #navColumnRight
   #contentcol      #contentColumn
   .footer          #footer
   .logo	    #logo
   .simpleMessage   .loginMessage
   .appMsg	    (styles are removed from css)
   .searchMessage   (styles are removed from css)
  ===============  ==================================

  Introduction of the new cubicweb.reset.css based on Eric Meyer's
  reset css.

  Lots of margin, padding, etc.