validating CSS

TechnoScream · 24 Apr 2006 at 14:42

I have a XHTML 1.0 Transitional page that passes validation, but the stylesheet it uses doesnt quite validate as it says:

No error or warning found
To work as intended, your CSS style sheet needs a correct document parse tree. This means you should use valid HTML.

Can anyone enlighten me on this?
Thanks

Here is the Style sheet:

Code:

#container
{
width: 90%;
margin: 10px auto;
background-color: #b9d3ee;
color: #333;
border: 1px solid #000088;
line-height: 130%;
}

#top
{
padding: .5em;
background-color: #6699cc;
color: #333;
border-bottom: 1px solid #000088;
}

#top h1
{
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
}

#leftnav
{
float: left;
width: 160px;
margin: 0;
padding: 1em;
}

#content
{
margin-left: 200px;
border-left: 1px solid #000088;
padding: 1em;
max-width: 36em;
background-color: #cae1ff;
color: #333;
}

#footer
{
clear: both;
margin: 0;
padding: .5em;
color: #333;
background-color: #6699cc;
border-top: 1px solid #000088;
}

#leftnav p { margin: 0 0 1em 0; }
#content h2 { margin: 0 0 .5em 0; }

and here is the valid xhtml (i know its not very interesting at present!)

Code:

<!DOCTYPE html
PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html>
<head>
<title>Steve</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="mystyles.css" />
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
</head>
<body>
<div id="container">
<div id="top">
<h1>Header</h1>
</div>
<div id="leftnav">
<p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut.
</p>
</div>
<div id="content">
<h2>Subheading</h2>
<p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
</p>
<p>
Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
</p>


  <p>
    <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer"><img
        src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-xhtml10"
        alt="Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional" height="31" width="88" /></a>
  </p>

</div>
<div id="footer">
Footer
</div>
</div>

</body>
</html>

Augmented · 24 Apr 2006 at 16:43

TechnoScream said:
No error or warning found

It does validate. There are no errors or warnings.
The note about a "correct document parse tree" means that you should ensure your HTML is valid in order that the CSS is applied correctly - your markup validates, so you're fine there.

The validator can't take into account any (X)HTML documents the CSS applies to as it has no knowledge of them, so it's simply reminding you to check the markup yourself

.

TechnoScream · 24 Apr 2006 at 18:38

Thanks for the advice, what has me confused it my XHTML gives me a button to show that it has validated. it doesnt do that with the CSS :confused:

(i know i cheat to get the button but i would like to get it presented to me as this is more of a learning exercise.

Thanks

Augmented · 24 Apr 2006 at 19:06

If you validate by 'direct upload' or 'file upload', then it won't show the text regarding the referral button, because it has no URI to create a custom link like:

Code:

http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/base.css

You need to validate by URI e.g. validate the validator if you really want the button. Not that it really counts for anything - code should always be valid and one shouldn't need a button to prove it

.

TechnoScream · 24 Apr 2006 at 22:00

Augmented said:
because it has no URI to create a custom link.

Thats exactly what i needed, sometimes those simple things are staring you in the face yet you still cant see them! I uploaded the file and am presented with the button by the validator.

Augmented said:
code should always be valid and one shouldn't need a button to prove it .

I totally agree, this for me is about the learning experience, and so it was just a frustrating little thing that was holding me up. i was doubting my code because of it. now that i know its all good i can continue!

Thanks for all your help Augmented! much appreciated.