In this guide we will explain the flow-relative mappings between physical dimension properties and logical properties used for sizing elements on our pages.
When specifying the size of an item, the Logical Properties and Values specification gives you the ability to indicate sizing as it relates to the flow of text (inline and block) rather than physical sizing which relates to the physical dimensions of horizontal and vertical (e.g. left and right). While these flow relative mappings may well become the default for many of us, in a design you may well use both physical and logical sizing. You might want some features to always relate to the physical dimensions whatever the writing mode.
The table below provides mappings between logical and physical properties. These mappings assume that you are in a
horizontal-tb
writing mode, such as English or Arabic, in which case
width
would be mapped to
inline-size
.
If you were in a vertical writing mode then
inline-size
would be mapped to
height
.
| Logical Property | Physical Property |
|---|---|
inline-size
|
width
|
block-size
|
height
|
min-inline-size
|
min-width
|
min-block-size
|
min-height
|
max-inline-size
|
max-width
|
max-block-size
|
max-height
|
The logical mappings for
width
and
height
are
inline-size
, which sets the length in the inline dimension and
block-size
, which sets the length in the block dimension. When working in English, replacing
width
with
inline-size
and
height
with
block-size
will give the same layout.
In the live example below I have set the Writing Mode to
horizontal-tb
. Change it to
vertical-rl
and you will see that the first example — which uses
width
and
height
— remains the same size in each dimension, despite the text becoming vertical. The second example — which uses
inline-size
and
block-size
— will follow the text direction as if the entire block has rotated.
There are also mappings for
min-width
and
min-height
— these are
min-inline-size
and
min-block-size
. These work in the same way as the
inline-size
and
block-size
properties, but setting a minimum rather than a fixed size.
Try changing the example below to
vertical-rl
, as with the first example, to see the effect it has. I am using
min-height
in the first example and
min-block-size
in the second.
Finally you can use
max-inline-size
and
max-block-size
as logical replacements for
max-width
and
max-height
. Try playing with the below example in the same way as before.
resize
property sets whether or not an item can be resized and has physical values of
horizontal
and
vertical
。
resize
property also has logical keyword values. Using
resize: inline
allows resizing in the inline dimension and
resize: block
allow resizing in the block dimension.
The keyword value of
both
for the resize property works whether you are thinking physically or logically. It sets both dimensions at once. Try playing with the below example.
Note that currently the logical values for resize are only supported by Firefox.
block-size
border-block
border-block-color
border-block-end
border-block-end-color
border-block-end-style
border-block-end-width
border-block-start
border-block-start-color
border-block-start-style
border-block-start-width
border-block-style
border-block-width
border-end-end-radius
border-end-start-radius
border-inline
border-inline-color
border-inline-end
border-inline-end-color
border-inline-end-style
border-inline-end-width
border-inline-start
border-inline-start-color
border-inline-start-style
border-inline-start-width
border-inline-style
border-inline-width
border-start-end-radius
border-start-start-radius
inline-size
inset
inset-block
inset-block-end
inset-block-start
inset-inline
inset-inline-end
inset-inline-start
margin-block
margin-block-end
margin-block-start
margin-inline
margin-inline-end
margin-inline-start
max-block-size
max-inline-size
min-block-size
min-inline-size
padding-block
padding-block-end
padding-block-start
padding-inline
padding-inline-end
padding-inline-start