1. Introduction
This section is non-normative.
View Transitions, as specified in [css-view-transitions-1], is a feature that allows developers to create animated transitions between visual states of the document.
Level 2 extends that specification, by adding the necessary API and lifecycle to enable transitions across a same-origin cross-document navigation, as well as a few additions that make it easier to author pages with richer view transitions.
Level 2 defines the following:
-
Cross-document view transitions, including the @view-transition rule and the algorithms that enable the cross-document view transition lifecycle.
-
Selective view transitions, a way to match styles based on the existence of an active view transition, and more specifically based on the active view transition being of a certain type.
-
Sharing styles between view transition pseudo-elements, a way to declare a style once, and use it for multiple view transition pseudo-elements. This includes the view-transition-class property, and additions to named pseudo-elements
2. Cross-document view transitions
2.1. Overview
This section is non-normative.
2.1.1. Activation
With same-document view transitions, the author starts a view transition using JavaScript, by callingstartViewTransition.
In cross-document view transition, what triggers a view transition is a navigation between two documents, as long as the following conditions are met:
-
Both documents are of the same origin;
-
The page is visible throughout the entire course of the navigation;
-
The user initiates the navigation by interacting with the page, e.g. by clicking a link or submitting a form; or by interacting with the browser UI to do a
traversenavigation (back/forward). This excludes, for example, navigations initiated by the URL bar; -
the navigation didn’t include cross-origin redirects; and
-
both documents opted in to cross-document view transitions, using the @view-transition rule.
See the lifecycle section for more details.
2.1.2. Waiting for the new state to stabilize
In same-document view transitions, the author can indicate when the new state of the transition is in a stable state by using the callback passed tostartViewTransition.
Since cross-document view transitions are declarative, there is no such explicit promise. Instead, the user agent relies on the render-blocking mechanism to decide when the document has reached a stable state.
In this way, the author can use the blocking attribute, to delay the transition until:
-
All expected scripts are executed, by using the script’s
blockingattribute on required scripts. -
All expected styles are executed, by using the style or link’s
blockingattribute on required styles. -
All expected HTML elements are seen by the parser, using an
expectHTMLLinkElementelement.
Note: overusing the render-blocking mechanism could make it so that the old state remains frozen for a long time, resulting in a jarring user experience. To avoid this, it’s advised to ensure that the render-blocking elements are available in a timely manner.
In this example, the last frame of the old document will be shown, and the animation will be delayed, until all the following conditions are met:
-
style.cssis applied, to ensure the new state has the correct styles -
fixup.jsis run, to ensure the presentation is up to date with script-based fixups. -
The
main-articlesection is seen and parsed, to ensure enough of the content is loaded before allowing the transition to proceed.
<!DOCTYPE html> < html > < head > < !-- This will be render-blocking by default -->< link rel = "stylesheet" href = "style.css" > < !-- Since this script fixes up the layout, marking it as render blocking will ensure it’s run before the view transition is activated -->< script async href = "fixup.js" blocking = "render" ></ script > < !-- Wait until the main-article element is seen and fully parsed before activating the transition -->< link rel = "expect" href = "#main-article" blocking = "render" > </ head > < body > < header > ...</ header > < main > < article id = "main-article" > ...</ article > </ main > < article id = "secondary-article" > ...</ article > </ body > </ html >
2.1.3. Customization
TheViewTransition object enables customizing the transition in script.
Same-document view transitions use a single ViewTransition object returned from the startViewTransition call for the entire lifecycle.
Cross-document view transitions have two ViewTransition objects, one in the old document and one in the new document.
2.1.3.1. Handling the view transition in the old document
The pageswap event is fired at the last moment before a document is about to be unloaded and swapped by another document.
It can be used to find out whether a view transition is about to take place, customize it using types, make last minute changes to the captured elements, or skip it if necessary.
The PageSwapEvent interface has a viewTransition object, which would be non-null when the navigation is eligible to a view transition,
and a activation object, providing handy information about the navigation, like the URL after redirects.
The transition’s finished promise can be used for cleaning up after the transition, in case the document is later restored from BFCache.
2.1.3.2. Handling the view transition in the new document
The pagereveal event is fired right before presenting the first frame of the new document.
It can be used to find out if the view transition is still valid, by querying the viewTransition attribute.
Similar to a same-document view transition, the author can now select different types, make last minute changes to the captured elements, wait for the transition to be ready in order to animate it, or skip it altogether.
2.1.4. Lifecycle
This section is non-normative.
A successful cross-document view transition goes through the following phases:
-
In the old
Document:-
The user initiates a navigation, by clicking a link, submitting a form, pressing the browser’s back button, etc.
Note: some navigations do not trigger a view-transition, e.g. typing a new address in the URL bar.
-
When the new
Documentis ready to be activated, thepageswapevent is fired. -
If the navigation is same origin, has no cross-origin redirects, and the old
Documenthas opted in to cross-document view transitions, the event’sviewTransitionattribute would be aViewTransitionobject. -
The author can now customize the transition, e.g. by mutating its
types, orskipit altogether. -
If the
ViewTransitionis not skipped, the state of the old document is captured. -
The navigation proceeds: the old
Documentis unloaded, and the newDocumentis now active.
-
-
Then, in the new
Document:-
When the new
Documentis ready for its first rendering opportunity, an event namedpagerevealis fired on the newDocument, with aviewTransitionattribute. -
This
ViewTransition'supdateCallbackDoneDocument. -
This is another opportunity for the author to customize the transition, e.g. by mutating its
types, orskipit altogether. -
The state of the new document is captured as the "new" state of the transition.
-
From this point forward, the transition continues in a similar fashion to a same-document transition, as per activate view transition.
-
2.2. Examples
Instead, we opt in to triggering view-transitions on navigation in both page 1 and page 2:
// in both documents:@view-transition { navigation : auto; }
A link from page 1 to or from page 2 would generate a crossfade transition for example 1. To achieve the effect examples 2, 3 & 4, simply put the CSS for the pseudo-elements in both documents.
@view-transition { navigation : auto; } @media ( max-width:600 px ) { navigation : none; }
-
Opt-in to navigation-triggered view-transitions in both pages.
-
Pass the click location to the new document, e.g. via
sessionStorage. -
Intercept the
ViewTransitionobject in the new document, using thepagerevealevent.
In both pages:
In the old page:@view-transition { navigation : auto; }
addEventListener( 'click' , event=> { sessionStorage. setItem( "lastClickX" , event. clientX); sessionStorage. setItem( "lastClickY" , event. clientY); });
In the new page:
// This would run both on initial load and on reactivation from BFCache. addEventListener( "pagereveal" , async event=> { if ( ! event. viewTransition) return ; const x= sessionStorage. getItem( "lastClickX" ) ?? innerWidth/ 2 ; const y= sessionStorage. getItem( "lastClickY" ) ?? innerHeight/ 2 ; const endRadius= Math. hypot( Math. max( x, innerWidth- x), Math. max( y, innerHeight- y) ); await event. viewTransition. ready; // Animate the new document’s view document. documentElement. animate( { clipPath: [ < code data- opaque bs- autolink- syntax= '`circle(0 at ${x}px ${y}px)`' > circle( 0 at ${ x} px ${ y} px) < /code>,< code data- opaque bs- autolink- syntax= '`circle(${endRadius}px at ${x}px ${y}px)`' > circle( ${ endRadius} px at ${ x} px ${ y} px) < /code>,], }, { duration: 500 , easing: 'ease-in' , pseudoElement: '::view-transition-new(root)' } ); })
In the old page:
window. addEventListener( "pageswap" , event=> { // For example, the page was hidden, or the navigation is cross-document. if ( ! event. viewTransition) return ; // If you don’t want view transition for back/forward navigations... if ( event. activation. navigationType=== "traverse" ) { event. viewTransition. skipTransition(); } const newURL= new URL( event. activation. entry. url); if ( newURL. pathname=== "/details" && thumbnail. complete) { thumbnail. classList. add( "transition-to-hero" ); // This will cleanup the state if the page is restored from BFCache. event. viewTransition. finished. then(() => { thumbnail. classList. remove( "transition-to-hero" ); }); } });
In the new page:
window. addEventListener( "pagereveal" , event=> { // For example, the page was hidden, the navigation is cross-document, or the transition was skipped in the old document. if ( ! event. viewTransition) return ; const oldURL= new URL( navigation. activation. from . url); if ( newURL. pathname=== "/list" ) { event. viewTransition. types. add( "coming-from-list" ); // This will show the thumbnail until the view transition is finished. if ( ! hero. complete) { setToThumbnail( hero); event. viewTransition. finished. then(() => { setToFullResolution( hero); }) } } });
2.3. Opting in to cross-document view transitions
2.3.1. The @view-transition rule
The @view-transition rule is used by a document to indicate that cross-document navigations
should setup and activate a ViewTransition.
The @view-transition rule has the following syntax:
@view-transition {
<declaration-list>
}
The @view-transition rule accepts the navigation and types descriptors.
Note: as per default behavior, the @view-transition rule can be nested inside a conditional group rule such as @media or @supports.
When the @view-transition rule changes for Document document, the user agent must update the opt-in state for outbound transitions given document.
Note: this needs to be cached in the boolean because the result needs to be read in parallel, when navigating.
2.3.2. The navigation descriptor
| Name: | navigation |
|---|---|
| For: | @view-transition |
| Value: | auto | none |
| Initial: | none |
The 'navigation' descriptor opts in to automatically starting a view transition when performing a navigation of a certain type. Must be present on both the old and new document.
- none
-
There will be no transition.
- auto
-
The transition will be enabled if the navigation is same-origin, without cross-origin redirects, and whose
NavigationTypeis-
traverse, or -
pushorreplace, with user navigation involvement not equal to"browser UI".
Note: Navigations excluded from auto are for example, navigating via the URL address bar or clicking a bookmark, as well as any form of user or script initiated
reload. -
This at-rule conforms with the forward-compatible parsing requirement of CSS; conformant parsers that don’t understand these rules will ignore them without error. Any descriptors that are not recognized or implemented by a given user agent, or whose value does not match the grammars given here or in a future version of this specification, must be ignored in their entirety; they do not make the @view-transition rule invalid.
2.3.3. Accessing the @view-transition rule using CSSOM
The CSSViewTransitionRule represents a @view-transition rule.
[Exposed =Window ]interface :CSSViewTransitionRule CSSRule {readonly attribute CSSOMString ; [navigation SameObject ]readonly attribute FrozenArray <CSSOMString >; };types
The navigation getter step is to return the value of the corresponding navigation descriptor if one exists, otherwise the empty string.
The types getter steps is to return the value of the corresponding types descriptor if one exists, otherwise an empty list.
3. Selective view transitions
3.1. Overview
This section is non-normative.
For simple pages, with a single view transition, setting the view-transition-name property on participating elements should be sufficient. However, in more complex scenarios, the author might want to declare various view transitions, and only run one of them simultaneously. For example, sliding the whole page when clicking on the navigation bar, and sorting a list when one of its items is dragged.
To make sure each view transition only captures what it needs to, and different transitions don’t interfere with each other, this spec introduces the concept of active types, alongside the :active-view-transition and :active-view-transition-type() pseudo-classes.
:active-view-transition matches the document element when it has an active view transition, and :active-view-transition-type() matches the document element if the types in the selectors match the active view transition's active types.
The ViewTransition's active types are populated in one of the following ways:
-
Passed as part of the arguments to
startViewTransition(callbackOptions) -
Mutated at any time, using the transition’s
types -
Declared for a cross-document view transition, using the types descriptor.
3.2. Examples
document. startViewTransition({ update: updateTheDOMSomehow, types: [ "slide-in" , "reverse" ]});
This will activate any of the following selectors:
:root:active-view-transition-type ( slide-in) {} :root:active-view-transition-type ( reverse) {} :root:active-view-transition-type ( slide-in, reverse) {} :root:active-view-transition-type ( slide-in, something-else) {} :root:active-view-transition{}
While starting a transition without providing transition types, would only activate ':active-view-transition'':
document. startViewTransition( updateTheDOMSomehow); // or document. startViewTransition({ update: updateTheDOMSomehow});
/* This would be active */ :root{ } :root:active-view-transition{} /* This would not be active */ :root:active-view-transition-type ( slide-in) {} :root:active-view-transition-type ( any-type-at-all-except-star) {}
3.3. Selecting based on the active view transition
3.3.1. The :active-view-transition pseudo-class
The :active-view-transition pseudo-class applies to the root element of the document, if it has an active view transition.
The specificity of an :active-view-transition is one pseudo-class selector.
An :active-view-transition pseudo-class matches the document element when its node document has an non-null active view transition.
3.3.2. The :active-view-transition-type() pseudo-class
The :active-view-transition-type() pseudo-class applies to the root element of the document, if it has a matching active view transition. It has the following syntax definition:
:active-view-transition-type(<custom-ident>#)
The specificity of an :active-view-transition-type() is one pseudo-class selector.
An :active-view-transition-type() pseudo-class matches the document element when its node document has an non-null active view transition, whose active types contains at least one of the <custom-ident> arguments.
3.4. Changing the types of an ongoing view transition
The ViewTransition interface is extended as follows:
[Exposed =Window ]interface {ViewTransitionTypeSet setlike <DOMString >; }; [Exposed =Window ]partial interface ViewTransition {attribute ViewTransitionTypeSet ; };types
The ViewTransitionTypeSet object represents a set of strings, without special semantics.
Note: a ViewTransitionTypeSet can contain strings that are invalid for :active-view-transition-type, e.g.
strings that are not a <custom-ident>.
The types getter steps are to return this's active types.
3.5. Activating the transition type for cross-document view transitions
The types descriptor
| Name: | types |
|---|---|
| For: | @view-transition |
| Value: | none | <custom-ident>+ |
| Initial: | none |
The 'types' descriptor sets the active types for the transition
when capturing or performing the transition, equivalent to calling startViewTransition(callbackOptions) with that types.
Note: the types descriptor only applies to the Document in which it is defined.
The author is responsible for using their chosen set of types in both documents.
4. Sharing styles between view transition pseudo-elements
4.1. Overview
This section is non-normative.
When styling multiple elements in the DOM in a similar way, it is common to use the class attribute: setting a name that’s shared across multiple elements, and then using the class selector to declare the shared style.
The view transition pseudo-elements (e.g. view-transition-group()) are not defined in the DOM, but rather by using the view-transition-name property. For that purpose, the view-transition-class' CSS property provides view transitions with the equivalent of HTML classes. When an element with a view-transition-name also has a view-transition-class value, that class would be selectable by the pseudo-elements, as per the examples.
4.2. Examples
< div class = "box" id = "red-box" ></ div > < div class = "box" id = "green-box" ></ div > < div class = "box" id = "yellow-box" ></ div >
div.box{ view-transition-class : any-box; width : 100 px ; height : 100 px ; } #red-box{ view-transition-name : red-box; background : red; } #green-box{ view-transition-name : green-box; background : green; } #yellow-box{ view-transition-name : yellow-box; background : yellow; } /* The following style would apply to all the boxes, thanks to 'view-transition-class' */ ::view-transition-group ( *.any-box) { animation-duration : 1 s ; }
4.3. The view-transition-class property
| Name: | view-transition-class |
|---|---|
| Value: | none | <custom-ident>+ |
| Initial: | none |
| Applies to: | all elements |
| Inherited: | no |
| Percentages: | n/a |
| Computed value: | as specified |
| Canonical order: | per grammar |
| Animation type: | discrete |
The view-transition-class can be used to apply the same style rule to multiple named view transition pseudo-elements which may have a different view-transition-name. While view-transition-name is used to match between the element in the old state with its corresponding element in the new state, view-transition-class is used only to apply styles using the view transitionpseudo-elements (::view-transition-group(), ::view-transition-image-pair(), ::view-transition-old(), ::view-transition-new()).
Note that view-transition-class by itself doesn’t mark an element for capturing, it is only used as an additional way to style an element that already has a view-transition-name.
- none
-
No class would apply to the named view transition pseudo-elements generated for this element.
- <custom-ident>+
-
All of the specified <custom-ident> values (apart from none) are applied when used in named view transition pseudo-element selectors. none is an invalid <custom-ident> for view-transition-class, even when combined with another <custom-ident>.
Each 'view transition class' is a tree-scoped name.
Note: If the same view-transition-name is specified for an element both in the old and new states of the transition, only the view-transition-class values from the new state apply. This also applies for cross-document view transitions: classes from the old document would only apply if their corresponding view-transition-name was not specified in the new document.
4.4. Additions to named view transition pseudo-elements
The named view transition pseudo-elements (view-transition-group(), view-transition-image-pair(), view-transition-old(), view-transition-new()) are extended to support the following syntax:
::view-transition-group(<pt-name-and-class-selector>) ::view-transition-image-pair(<pt-name-and-class-selector>) ::view-transition-old(<pt-name-and-class-selector>) ::view-transition-new(<pt-name-and-class-selector>)
where <pt-name-selector> works as previously defined, and <pt-name-and-class-selector> has the following syntax definition:
<pt-name-and-class-selector> = <pt-name-selector> <pt-class-selector>? | <pt-class-selector> <pt-class-selector> = ['.' <custom-ident>]+
When interpreting the above grammar, white space is forbidden:
-
Between <pt-name-selector> and <pt-class-selector>
-
Between any of the components of <pt-class-selector>.
A named view transition pseudo-element selector which has one or more <custom-ident> values in its <pt-class-selector> would only match an element if the class list value in named elements for the pseudo-element’s view-transition-name contains all of those values.
The specificity of a named view transition pseudo-element selector with either:
-
a <pt-name-selector> with a <custom-ident>; or
-
a <pt-class-selector> with at least one <custom-ident>,
is equivalent to a type selector.
The specificity of a named view transition pseudo-element selector with a * argument and with an empty <pt-class-selector> is zero.
5. Extending document.startViewTransition()
dictionary {StartViewTransitionOptions ViewTransitionUpdateCallback ?=update null ;sequence <DOMString >?=types null ; };partial interface Document {ViewTransition startViewTransition (optional (ViewTransitionUpdateCallback or StartViewTransitionOptions )= {}); };callbackOptions
startViewTransition(callbackOptions) are as follows:
-
Let updateCallback be null.
-
If callbackOptions is a
ViewTransitionUpdateCallback, set updateCallback to callbackOptions. -
Otherwise, if callbackOptions is a
StartViewTransitionOptions, then set updateCallback to callbackOptions’supdate. -
If this’s active view transition is not null and its outbound post-capture steps is not null, then:
-
Let preSkippedTransition be a new
ViewTransitionin this’s relevant realm whose update callback is updateCallback.Note: The preSkippedTransition’s
typesare ignored here because the transition is never activated. -
Skip preSkippedTransition with an "
InvalidStateError"DOMException. -
Return preSkippedTransition.
Note: This ensures that a same-document transition that started after firing
pageswapis skipped. -
-
Let viewTransition be the result of running the method steps for
startViewTransition(updateCallback)given updateCallback. -
If callbackOptions is a
StartViewTransitionOptions, set viewTransition’s active types to a clone oftypesas a set. -
Return viewTransition.
6. Determining view-transition-name automatically
6.1. Overview
This section is non-normative.
For an element to participate in a view transition, it needs to receive a unique view-transition-name. This can be tedious and verbose when multiple elements are involved in the same view transition, especially in cases where many of those are same-element transitions, as in, the element has the same view-transition-name in the old and new state.
To make this easier, setting the view-transition-name to auto would generate a view-transition-name for the element, or take it from the element’s id if present.
6.2. Examples
< ul > < li > Item 1</ li > < li > Item 2</ li > < li > Item 3</ li > < li > Item 4</ li > ...</ ul >
Ordinarily, each of these items would have to receive a unique view-transition-name:
li : nth-child ( 1 ) { view-transition-name : item1; } li:nth-child ( 2 ) { view-transition-name : item1; } li:nth-child ( 3 ) { view-transition-name : item1; } li:nth-child ( 4 ) { view-transition-name : item1; } ...
With auto, this CSS would work:
li{ view-transition-name : auto; }
6.3. Additions to view-transition-name
In addition to the existing values, the view-transition-name also accepts an auto keyword. To resolve the used value of view-transition-name for element:
-
Let computed be the computed value of view-transition-name.
-
If computed is none, return null.
-
If computed is a <custom-ident>, return computed.
-
Assert: computed is auto.
-
If element has an associated id, and computed is associated with the same root as element’s root, then return the value of element’s id.
Note: this means that a ::part() pseudo-element wouldn’t resolve to its matching element’s id.
-
Return a unique string. The string should remain consistent and unique for this element and
Document, at least for the lifetime of element’s node document's active view transition.Note: this string is not web-observable, and is used for addressing the element in internal algorithms.
Note: When used in a cross-document view transition, generated auto values never match, resulting in separate ::view-transition-group() pseudo-elements, one exiting and one entering.
A view-transition-name generated by auto is a tree-scoped name.
7. Nested view-transitions
7.1. Overview
This section is non-normative.
By default, setting view-transition-name on multiple elements generates a flat view transition tree, where all the ::view-transition-group() pseudo-elements are children of the ::view-transition pseudo-element.
This is sufficient for many simple use-cases, but there are some styling use-cases that cannot be achieved with a flat tree.
The most prominent use-case is clipping: with a flat tree, all pseudo-elements are clipped to the snapshot containing block, so clipping elements in the normal tree would lose their clipping during the view-transition, resulting in a broken visual effect.
The effects that have can have an unexpected visual effect in a flat tree:
-
Clipping (overflow, clip-path, border-radius): clipping affects the children of the element.
-
opacity, mask-image and filter: These effects that are designed to work on a fully rasterized image of a tree, rather than on each item individually.
-
3D transforms (transform-style, transform, perspective): to display the full range of 3D transform animations, some hierarchy needs to be kept.
To enable these use cases, this specification introduces the concept of nesting view-transition pseudo-elements. By using the view-transition-group CSS property, the author can assign a "parent group" for a generated ::view-transition-group() pseudo-element, creating a hierarchy in the view transition tree.
7.2. Examples
< section class = "container" > < article > Content</ article > </ section >
.container{ view-transition-name : container; } .container, ::view-transition-group ( container) { clip-path : circle (); } article{ view-transition-name : article; view-transition-group : container; }
By applying the clip-path to both the containing element and its generated pseudo-element, we preserve the clip during the transition, and by applying view-transition-group to the internal element referencing the container, we make the tree "nested" in a way that would apply this clipping.