css at rule descriptor

`negative` CSS at-rule descriptor

The negative descriptor of the @counter-style at-rule lets you define how negative counter values are represented when defining custom counter styles. The value of the negative descriptor defines the symbols to be added before and after the counter representation when the counter’s value is negative.

Syntax

/* One <symbol> value */
negative: "--"; /* Adds '--' before if counter value is negative */

/* Two <symbol> values */
negative: "(" ")"; /* Adds '(- before and ')' after if counter value is negative */

Values

The negative descriptor accepts up to two <symbol> values.

<symbol>
- : If only one value is specified, it is added before the counter representation when the counter is negative. If two values are specified, the first one is added before and the second one is added after the counter representation when the counter is negative.

Description

If the counter value is negative, the specified <symbol> for the negative descriptor is added before the counter representation, replacing the default - for negative values. The second <symbol>, if specified, is added after the counter representation.

The negative descriptor is relevant in two cases: if counter styles have the system value of symbolic, alphabetic, numeric, and additive and the count is negative; and if system value is extends and the extended counter style itself uses a negative sign. For systems that don’t support negative counter values, specifying the negative descriptor has no effect and is ignored.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

Examples

Rendering negative counters

This example extends the decimal list style. The negative descriptor is used to add (- and ) before and after negative counter values.

HTML

<ol start="-3">
  <li>Negative three</li>
  <li>Negative two</li>
  <li>Negative one</li>
  <li>Zero</li>
  <li>One</li>
</ol>

CSS

@counter-style neg {
  system: extends decimal;
  negative: "(-" ")";
  suffix: ": ";
}

ol {
  list-style: neg;
}

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

The prefix and suffix listed as the value of the negative descriptor are only added to the marker when the counter value is less than zero.

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.