Php Css Parser Laravel Package

Getting Started

Install via Composer:

composer require sabberworm/php-css-parser  

Start by parsing a CSS string or file:

use Sabberworm\CSS\Parser;  

$parser = new Parser($cssString);  
$cssDocument = $parser->parse();  

The parsed $cssDocument is an object tree: CSSDocument → RuleSets (e.g., RuleSet, AtRule) → Rules → Values.
First common use case: extract and inspect selectors/rules — e.g., find all font-size declarations across a stylesheet.

Implementation Patterns

• Read & Analyze: Traverse the document tree to audit styles (e.g., unused selectors, specificity mapping).
• Programmatic Editing: Modify values or add rules dynamically — e.g., inject vendor prefixes or adapt to theme variables:

  $ruleSet = new RuleSet();  
  $ruleSet->addRule(new Rule('color', new Color('red')));  
  $mediaQuery = new AtRule('media', 'screen and (min-width: 768px)');  
  $mediaQuery->getRuleSets()->addRuleSet($ruleSet);  
  $cssDocument->addRuleSet($mediaQuery);  
  

• Output & Optimization: Render optimized CSS:

  echo $cssDocument->render(); // minify via ->render(new OutputFormat())  
  

• Integrate with Build Tools: Use as part of a preprocessing pipeline — e.g., generate critical CSS, inline styles, or generate CSS variable maps from existing styles.

Gotchas and Tips

• Parsing errors throw Sabberworm\CSS\Parser\Exception\ParserException — wrap parse() in try/catch for robustness.
• Empty rule sets (e.g., div {}) are preserved — filter them manually if needed (getRuleSets() → getRules()).
• Vendor-specific values (e.g., -webkit-box) may parse inconsistently — always validate AST structure before modification.
• Custom values (e.g., calc(), var(--custom)) are represented as CSSString or Value objects — avoid naive string concatenation.
• Extensions: Extend OutputFormat to control minification (e.g., preserve line breaks for debugging).
• Performance: Parsing large files (e.g., Bootstrap compiled) can be memory-intensive — consider streaming or chunking in CLI tools.