_)      

     __ `__ \   _ \  __|  __|   |  __| 

     |   |   |  __/\__ \\__ \   |\__ \ 

    _|  _|  _|\___|____/____/_) |____/ 

                            ___/       



    mess.js is an attempt to use less.js to

    compile cascadenik-formatted styles.



    it is inspired by but incompatible with 

    Cascadenik [1].





  = Changes from Cascadenik:



    - MML files are assumed to be JSON, not XML

    - Instead of the name attribute of the TextSymbolizer

      and ShieldSymbolizer being a part of the selector, it

      is a property of a rule. Thus the evaluation is less

      complex and one can use expressions in names.



    cascadenik:

    

      #world NAME {

        text-face-name: "Arial";

      }



    mess:



      #world {

        text-name: "NAME";

        text-face-name: "Arial";

      }



    - Pseudoelements are supported to append extra

      symbolizers onto single matched rules.



    #world {

      line-color: #fff;

      line-width: 3;

      }



      #world::outline {

        line-color: #000;

        line-width: 6;

        }



    - outline and inline are removed, having been replaced

      with pseudoelements.

    - names of styles in XML are derived from layer names,

      rather than being entirely autogenerated

    - less.js variables and expressions are supported

    - fontsets are supported by simply specifying multiple

      font names





  = Credits



    mess.js is based on less.js [2], a CSS compiler

    written by Alexis Sellier. It includes

    underscore.js [3].



    like less, mess.js provides a binary in bin/,

    named mess, although it is designed primarily

    for usage as a library.



  = Usage



      messc map_file.json



  = Authors



      Tom MacWright (tmcw)

      Konstantin Käfer (kkaefer)

      AJ Ashton (ajashton)



    [1]: https://github.com/mapnik/Cascadenik

    [2]: https://github.com/cloudhead/less.js

    [3]: https://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/