How do I use the Angular ngClass attribute?

The Angular ngClass attribute allows you to programmatically determine if a CSS class will be applied to an HTML element.

We know that adding and removing CSS classes is a common JavaScript task. Quite often, it is the most efficient way to make style changes to one or more DOM elements. In fact, there is a great deal of power in this approach, with its ability to add or remove one CSS class that can cascade, causing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of child elements to change in appearance. But when leveraging Angular, there is no need to manually add or remove CSS classes to or from DOM elements; Angular just takes care of this, based on the state of your data. So, as you’ll see in the examples below, the most efficient way to go is to use the Angular ngClass attribute, which allows you to determine if a CSS class should be added to a DOM element, based on the result of a JavaScript expression.

Sometimes you may want to apply some CSS to an element, based on the value of some data. And sometimes you may want to apply other CSS when that data changes, or if it has a very specific value. With the ngClass attribute, Angular makes this kind of CSS logic arbitrary.

Example # 1

In Example # 1, we have our component. This code example is short, as there is only one thing to point out: the contentHighlighted property. This property is a boolean, so it will always be either true or false. We will pay attention to this value in our template.

Example # 2

In Example # 2, we have our Angular template. First, let’s take a look at the buttons. The first button sets the contentHighlighted property to true. It also has an ngIf attribute set so that when contentHighlighted is true, the button is destroyed. The second button functions in the exact opposite way: it sets the contentHighlighted property to false, and is destroyed if contentHighlighted is false. When you run the example code, you’ll notice that button’s toggle. That is to say: when you click one, it disappears (i.e. is destroyed) and then the other button appears (is created), and vice verse.

Next, look at the style element. There, we’ve defined a highlighted class. So, any element that has the highlighted class gets an outline and pastel yellow background.

Finally, we have the div with the ngClass attribute. Based on the syntax, we have declared that if the contentHighlighted property is true, then the highlighted class will be applied to this element. Conversely, if the contentHighlighted property is false, then the highlighted class will not be applied to this element. When you run the example code, you’ll see that as you toggle the buttons, the highlighted class is toggled on that element, and when it is applied, then that element gets the outline and pastel yellow background.

Video Example Code

If you want to download the example code, visit this Github page, and then follow the instructions: bit.ly/kcv-angular-ngClass

Sumary

The Angular Ngclass attribute allows you to programmatically apply one or more CSS classes to a DOM element. The CSS class is applied or removed, based on the result of a JavaScript expression, and any valid JavaScript expression can be used. This is much more efficient than manually applying or removing CSS classes. It just provides so much power when you’re trying to make small or large style changes to your component and its children.