LESS - Import Directives

Description

The @import directive is used to import the files in the code. It spreads the LESS code over different files and allows to maintain the structure of code easily. You can put the @import statements anywhere in the code.

For instance, you can import the file by using @import keyword as @import "file_name.less".

File Extensions

You can use the @import statements depending on the different file extensions such as −

  • If you are using .css extension, then it will be considered as CSS and the @import statement remains as it is.

  • If it contains any other extension, then it will be considered as LESS and will be imported.

  • If there is no LESS extension, then it will appended and included as imported LESS file.

@import "style";      // imports the style.less
@import "style.less"; // imports the style.less
@import "style.php";  // imports the style.php as a less file
@import "style.css";  // it will kept the statement as it is

Example

The following example demonstrates the use of variable in the SCSS file −

<!doctype html>
   <head>
      <title>Import Directives</title>
      <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "style.css" type = "text/css" />
   </head>

   <body>
      <h2>Example of Import Directives</h2>
      <p class = "myline">Welcome to Tutorialspoint...</p>
   </body>
</html>

Next, create the import_dir.less file.

import_dir.less

.myline {
   font-size: 20px;
}

Now, create the style.less file.

style.less

@import "http://www.tutorialspoint.com/less/import_dir.less";
.myline {
   color:#FF0000;
}

The import_dir.less file will get imported into style.less file from the path https://www.tutorialspoint.com/less/import_dir.less.

You can compile the style.less to style.css by using the following command −

lessc style.less style.css

Execute the above command; it will create the style.css file automatically with the following code −

style.css

.myline {
   font-size: 20px;
}

.myline {
   color: #FF0000;
}

Output

Follow these steps to see how the above code works −

  • Save the above html code in the import_directives.html file.

  • Open this HTML file in a browser, the following output will get displayed.

Import Directives
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