Mezr

npm install mezr

Mezr is a lightweight utility library, written in TypeScript, for measuring and comparing the dimensions, distances and other tricky stuff of DOM elements in modern browsers.

• 🧩 Simple API which reduces boilerplate code a lot.
• 📦 Modular, organized into clear independent modules.
• 🤖 Extensively tested across all modern browsers.
• 🍭 No runtime dependencies, what you see is what you get.
• 💝 Free and open source, MIT Licensed.

Why?

Mezr is a collection of methods that I've found myself writing over and over again in different projects. I've also found that these methods are not something that you can easily find from other maintained libraries. I've tried to keep the API as simple as possible, so that you can get started with it right away without having to read a lot of documentation. There are also hundreds of unit tests to ensure that the methods work as expected.

Some of the methods are also quite tricky to implement correctly, especially when you need to take browser differences into account. For example, the getContainingBlock() method is something that I've seen implemented incorrectly (or rather not fully correctly) in many libraries. It's very tricky to compute the containing block correctly while taking browser differences into account. Mezr does all the heavy lifting for you.

Here's a simple example of measuring an element's content width with both vanilla JS and Mezr.

Vanilla JS

// Let's start by getting the element's bounding client rect, this gives us
// always computed fractional pixel values, which is important. It contains
// the element's borders, paddings and scrollbars, which we need to subtract
// from the final width. Alternatively, we could start with elem.clientWidth to
// make this simpler, but it returns rounded integers, which is not ideal for
// precise calculations.
let width = elem.getBoundingClientRect().width;

// Get the computed style of the element, this gives us always computed pixel
// values.
const style = window.getComputedStyle(elem);

// Subtract borders.
width -= parseFloat(style.borderLeftWidth) || 0;
width -= parseFloat(style.borderRightWidth) || 0;

// Subtract scrollbar.
if (!(elem instanceof HTMLHtmlElement)) {
  width -= Math.max(0, Math.round(width) - elem.clientWidth);
}

// Subtract paddings.
width -= parseFloat(style.paddingLeft) || 0;
width -= parseFloat(style.paddingRight) || 0;

// Done!
console.log(width);

Mezr

import { getWidth } from 'mezr/getWidth';

// Done!
console.log(getWidth(elem, 'content'));

Getting started

Install

npm install mezr

Import

All the public API methods are provided as CommonJS modules (CJS) and ECMAScript modules (ESM) via subpath exports.

import { getWidth } from 'mezr/getWidth';
import { getHeight } from 'mezr/getHeight';

You can also import all the public methods from the library root if you wish.

import { getWidth, getHeight } from 'mezr';

Lastly, a UMD module is also provided if you want to include Mezr directly in your website (like in the good old days).

<script src="mezr.js"></script>
<script>
  const bodyWidth = mezr.getWidth(document.body);
  const bodyHeight = mezr.getHeight(document.body);
</script>

Measure

Now you're ready to start measuring the DOM, here's a quick demo on the dimensions/offsets methods. Please refer to the API section for more details and more methods.

import { getWidth } from 'mezr/getWidth';
import { getHeight } from 'mezr/getHeight';
import { getOffset } from 'mezr/getOffset';

// DIMENSIONS

// Measure element's dimensions (with paddings + scrollbar + borders).
// elem.getBoundingClientRect().width/height.
getWidth(elem);
getHeight(elem);

// The second argument defines element's box edge.

// Only the content.
getWidth(elem, 'content');
getHeight(elem, 'content');

// Content + paddings.
getWidth(elem, 'padding');
getHeight(elem, 'padding');

// Content + paddings + scrollbar.
getWidth(elem, 'scrollbar');
getHeight(elem, 'scrollbar');

// Content + paddings + scrollbar + borders (default).
getWidth(elem, 'border');
getHeight(elem, 'border');

// Content + paddings + scrollbar + borders + (positive) margins.
getWidth(elem, 'margin');
getHeight(elem, 'margin');

// OFFSETS

// Measure element's offset from it's owner document.
getOffset(elem);
// => { left: number, top: number }

// The second argument defines the offset root which is basically the
// element/document/window that the element's offset is measured from.
getOffset(elemA, elemB);

// By default the "border" box edge is used for the argument elements, but you
// can define another box edge also by using array syntax.
getOffset([elemA, 'padding'], [elemB, 'margin']);

API

• getWidth()
• getHeight()
• getOffset()
• getRect()
• getDistance()
• getIntersection()
• getOverflow()
• getContainingBlock()
• getOffsetContainer()
• Types

getWidth()

Returns the width of an element in pixels. Accepts also the window object (for getting the viewport width) and the document object (for getting the width of the document). Document width, in the context of this method, is either the document element's width (including it's scroll area) or window's width (without possible scrollbar), whichever is greater.

This method also measures custom subpixel scrollbar sizes accurately, which is something you don't bump into too often, but might be extremely important in those special cases where the site has custom subpixel scrollbars defined.

Syntax

type getWidth = (element: BoxElement, boxEdge: BoxElementEdge = 'border') => number;

Parameters

1. element
   • The element which's width we want to measure.
   • Accepts: BoxElement.
2. boxEdge
   • Defines which box edge of the element is considered as it's outer edge for the calculations.
   • For document this option is ignored since document cannot have any scrollbars, paddings, borders or margins.
   • For window only "content" (without vertical scrollbar's width) and "scrollbar" (with vertical scrollbar's width) are effective values. "padding" is normalized to "content" while "border" and "margin" are normalized to "scrollbar".
   • Accepts: BoxElementEdge.
   • Optional. Defaults to "border".

Returns

The element's width in pixels. Tries to always return fractional subpixel values, which is important for precise calculations. For window this is not possible, so it will return integer values.

Examples

import { getWidth } from 'mezr/getWidth';

// Document width.
getWidth(document);

// Window width (with scrollbar).
getWidth(window);

// Window width (without scrollbar).
getWidth(window, 'content');

// Element content-box width.
// Includes content only.
getWidth(elem, 'content');

// Element padding-box width.
// Includes content + paddings.
getWidth(elem, 'padding');

// Element padding-box + scrollbar width.
// Includes content + paddings + scrollbar.
getWidth(elem, 'scrollbar');

// Element border-box width.
// Includes content + paddings + scrollbar + borders.
getWidth(elem, 'border');
getWidth(elem);

// Element margin-box width.
// Includes content + paddings + scrollbar + borders + positive margins.
getWidth(elem, 'margin');

getHeight()

Returns the height of an element in pixels. Accepts also the window object (for getting the viewport height) and the document object (for getting the height of the whole document). Document height, in the context of this method, is either the document element's height (including it's scroll area) or window's height (without possible scrollbar), whichever is greater.

This method also measures custom subpixel scrollbar sizes accurately, which is something you don't bump into too often, but might be extremely important in those special cases where the site has custom subpixel scrollbars defined.

Syntax

type getHeight = (element: BoxElement, boxEdge: BoxElementEdge = 'border') => number;

Parameters

1. element
   • The element which's height we want to measure.
   • Accepts: BoxElement.
2. boxEdge
   • Defines which box edge of the element is considered as it's outer edge for the calculations.
   • For document this option is ignored since document cannot have any scrollbars, paddings, borders or margins.
   • For window only "content" (without horizontal scrollbar's height) and "scrollbar" (with horizontal scrollbar's height) are effective values. "padding" is normalized to "content" while "border" and "margin" are normalized to "scrollbar".
   • Accepts: BoxElementEdge.
   • Optional. Defaults to "border".

Returns

The element's height in pixels. Tries to always return fractional subpixel values, which is important for precise calculations. For window this is not possible, so it will return integer values.

Examples

import { getHeight } from 'mezr/getHeight';

// Document height.
getHeight(document);

// Window height (with scrollbar).
getHeight(window);

// Window height (without scrollbar).
getHeight(window, 'content');

// Element content-box height.
// Includes content only.
getHeight(elem, 'content');

// Element padding-box height.
// Includes content + paddings.
getHeight(elem, 'padding');

// Element padding-box + scrollbar height.
// Includes content + paddings + scrollbar.
getHeight(elem, 'scrollbar');

// Element border-box height.
// Includes content + paddings + scrollbar + borders.
getHeight(elem, 'border');
getHeight(elem);

// Element margin-box height.
// Includes content + paddings + scrollbar + borders + positive margins.
getHeight(elem, 'margin');

getOffset()

Returns the element's offset from another element, window or document.

Syntax

type getOffset = (element: BoxObject, offsetRoot?: BoxObject) => { left: number; top: number };

Parameters

1. element
   • The element which's offset we want to compute from the offset root.
   • Accepts: BoxObject.
2. offsetRoot
   • The element from which the offset is computed to the target element.
   • Accepts: BoxObject.
   • Optional. Defaults to the first argument's closest document.

Returns

An object containing the element's offset (left and top) from the offset root in pixels.

Examples

import { getOffset } from 'mezr/getOffset';

// Document's offset from document.
getOffset(document);
// => { left: 0, top: 0 }

// Window's offset from document.
getOffset(window);
// => { left: window.scrollX, top: window.scrollY }

// Element's offset from it's owner document.
getOffset(elem);

// You can also define the element's box edge for the calculations.
getOffset([elem, 'content']);
getOffset([elem, 'padding']);
getOffset([elem, 'scrollbar']); // equals getOffset(elem, 'padding');
getOffset([elem, 'border']); // equals getOffset(elem);
getOffset([elem, 'margin']);

// Element's offset from window.
getOffset(elem, window);

// Element's offset from another element.
getOffset(elem, otherElem);
getOffset([elem, 'content'], [otherElem, 'margin']);

getRect()

Returns an object containing the provided element's dimensions and offsets. This is basically a helper method for calculating an element's dimensions and offsets simultaneously. Mimics the native getBoundingClientRect method with the added bonus of allowing to define the box edge of the element, and also the element from which the offset is measured.

Syntax

type getRect = (element: BoxObject, offsetRoot?: BoxObject) => BoxRectFull;

Parameters

1. element
   • The element which's dimensions and offset (from the offset root) we want to compute.
   • Accepts: BoxObject.
2. offsetRoot
   • The element from which to compute the offset from.
   • Accepts: BoxObject.
   • Optional. Defaults to the first argument's closest document.

Returns

A BoxRectFull object containing the element's dimensions and offset (in pixels) from the offset root.

Examples

import { getRect } from 'mezr/getRect';

// Element's bounding rect data with offsets relative to the element's
// owner document.
getRect(elem);

// Element's bounding rect data with offsets relative to the window. Actually
// produces identical data to elem.getBoundingClienRect() with the exception
// that it doesn't have x and y properties in result data.
getRect(elem, window);

// You can also define the element's box edge for the calculations.
getRect([elem, 'content']);
getRect([elem, 'padding']);
getRect([elem, 'scrollbar']);
getRect([elem, 'border']); // equals getRect(elem);
getRect([elem, 'margin']);

// Element's bounding rect data with offsets from another element.
getRect(elem, anotherElem);
getRect([elem, 'padding'], [anotherElem, 'margin']);

getDistance()

Measure the shortest distance between two elements.

type getDistance = (elementA: BoxObject, elementB: BoxObject) => number | null;

Parameters

1. elementA
   • Accepts: BoxObject.
2. elementB
   • Accepts: BoxObject.

Returns

The shortest distance between two elements (in pixels), or null if the elements intersect. In case the elements are touching, but not intersecting, the returned distance is 0.

Examples

import { getDistance } from 'mezr/getDistance';

// Measure distance between two elements.
getDistance(elemA, elemB);

// Measure distance between element and window.
getDistance(elem, window);

// You can also define the elements' box edge for the calculations.
getDistance([elemA, 'content'], [elemB, 'scrollbar']);

getIntersection()

Measure the intersection area of two or more elements.

Syntax

type getIntersection = (...elements: BoxObject[]) => BoxRectFull | null;

Parameters

1. ...elements
   • Provide at least two elements.
   • Accepts: BoxObject.

Returns

A BoxRectFull object containing the intersection area dimensions and offsets if all the provided elements intersect, otherwise returns null.

Examples

import { getIntersection } from 'mezr/getIntersection';

// Measure intersection area of two elements.
getIntersection(elemA, elemB);

// Measure intersection area of element and window.
getIntersection(elem, window);

// You can also define the elements' box edge for the calculations.
getIntersection([elemA, 'content'], [elemB, 'scrollbar']);

// You can provide as many elements as you want.
getIntersection(elemA, elemB, [elemC, 'scrollbar'], { left: 0, top: 0, width: 100, height: 100 });

getOverflow()

Measure how much target overflows container per each side.

Syntax

type getOverflow = (
  target: BoxObject,
  container: BoxObject,
) => {
  left: number;
  right: number;
  top: number;
  bottom: number;
};

Parameters

1. target
   • Accepts: BoxObject.
2. container
   • Accepts: BoxObject.

Returns

An object containing the overflow values for each side: left, right, top, bottom. Note that the overflow values are reported even if the elements don't intersect. If a side's value is positive it means that target overflows container by that much from that side. If the value is negative it means that container overflows target by that much from that side.

Examples

import { getOverflow } from 'mezr/getOverflow';

// Measure how much elemA overflows elemB per each side.
getOverflow(elemA, elemB);

// Measure how much elem overflows window per each side.
getOverflow(elem, window);

// You can also define the elements' box edges for the calculations.
getOverflow([elemA, 'content'], [elemB, 'scrollbar']);

getContainingBlock()

Returns the element's containing block, meaning the closest element/document/window which the target element's percentage-based width, height, inset, left, right, top, bottom, padding, and margin properties are relative to in terms of size. In case the containing block can not be computed null will be returned (e.g. in some cases we can't query all the information needed from elements with display:none).

Important

Containing block is often thought to be both:

1. The element which the target element's percentage-based width, height, inset, left, right, top, bottom, padding, and margin properties are relative to in terms of size. For example, if the target element's left is set to 50% and the containing block's width is 100px, the target element's left will be 50px.
2. The element which the target element's inset, left, right, top, bottom are relative to in terms of position. E.g., if the target element's left is set to 0, it will be positioned at the containing block's left edge.

However, in reality, these are not the same element always, and this method returns the answer to the first case. We have another method, getOffsetContainer, for the second case.

Syntax

type getContainingBlock = (
  element: HTMLElement | SVGSVGElement,
  options: { container?: HTMLElement; position?: string; skipDisplayNone?: boolean } = {},
) => HTMLElement | Window | null;

Parameters

1. element
   • The element which's containing block we want to compute.
   • Accepts: HTMLElement | SVGSVGElement.
2. options
   • Optional options object.
   • container
     • Forcefully provide the element's parent element if you want to compute the containing block as if the element was a child of some other element than it's current parent. If not provided the element's parent element will be queried from the element.
     • Accepts: HTMLElement.
     • Defaults to undefined.
   • position
     • Forcefully provide the element's position value for the calculations. If not provided the element's position will be queried from the element.
     • Accepts: string.
     • Defaults to "".
   • skipDisplayNone
     • Defines how to treat "display:none" ancestor elements when computing the containing block in the specific scenarios where we need to know if an ancestor is a block or inline element. By default this is false, which means that null will be returned by the method in these scenarios, indicating that containing block could not be resolved. If set to true all the "display:none" ancestors will be treated as inline elements, meaning that they will be skipped in these problematic scenarios.
     • Accepts: boolean.
     • Defaults to false.

Examples

import { getContainingBlock } from 'mezr/getContainingBlock';

// Get element's containing block.
getContainingBlock(elem);

// Get element's containing block as if it were a fixed element.
getContainingBlock(elem, { position: 'fixed' });

// Get element's containing block as if it were a child of document.body.
getContainingBlock(elem, { container: document.body });

// Get element's containing block while treating all the "display:none"
// ancestors as "display:inline" elements.
getContainingBlock(elem, { skipDisplayNone: true }});

getOffsetContainer()

Returns the element's offset container, meaning the closest element/document/window that the target element's inset, left, right, top and bottom CSS properties are relative to in terms of position. If the offset container can't be computed or the element is not affected by left/right/top/bottom CSS properties (e.g. static elements) null will be returned (in some cases we can't query all the information needed from elements with display:none). Additionally, due to the dynamic nature of sticky elements they are considered as static elements in this method's scope and will always return null.

Syntax

type getOffsetContainer = (
  element: HTMLElement | SVGSVGElement,
  options: { position?: string; skipDisplayNone?: boolean } = {},
) => HTMLElement | SVGSVGElement | Document | Window | null;

Parameters

1. element
   • The element which's offset container we want to compute.
   • Accepts: HTMLElement | SVGSVGElement.
2. options
   • Optional options object.
   • Accepts the following optional properties:
     • container
       • Forcefully provide the element's parent element if you want to compute the containing block as if the element was a child of some other element than it's current parent. If not provided the element's parent element will be queried from the element.
       • Accepts: HTMLElement.
       • Defaults to undefined.
     • position
       • Forcefully provide the element's position value for the calculations. If not provided the element's position will be queried from the element.
       • Accepts: string.
       • Defaults to "".
     • skipDisplayNone
       • Defines how to treat "display:none" ancestor elements when computing the offset container in the specific scenarios where we need to know if an ancestor is a block or inline element. By default this is false, which means that null will be returned by the method in these scenarios, indicating that offset container could not be resolved. If set to true all the "display:none" ancestors will be treated as inline elements, meaning that they will be skipped in these problematic scenarios.
       • Accepts: boolean.
       • Defaults to false.

Examples

import { getOffsetContainer } from 'mezr/getOffsetContainer';

// Get element's offset container.
getOffsetContainer(elem);

// Get element's offset container as if it were a fixed element.
getOffsetContainer(elem, { position: 'fixed' });

// Get element's offset container as if it were a child of document.body.
getOffsetContainer(elem, { container: document.body });

// Get element's offset container while treating all the "display:none"
// ancestors as "display:inline" elements.
getOffsetContainer(elem, { skipDisplayNone: true });

Types

BoxElementEdge

type BoxElementEdge = 'content' | 'padding' | 'scrollbar' | 'border' | 'margin';

In many methods you can explicitly define the box edge of the element for the calculcations. In practice the box edge indicates which parts of the the element are considered as part of the element. "border" box edge is always the default. The following table illustrates the different box edges.

Box edge	Description
"content"	The element's content box.
"padding"	The element's content box + paddings.
"scrollbar"	The element's content box + paddings + scrollbar.
"border"	The element's content box + paddings + scrollbar + borders.
"margin"	The element's content box + paddings + scrollbar + borders + positive margins.

BoxRect

type BoxRect = {
  width: number;
  height: number;
  left: number;
  top: number;
};

In many methods you can provide the raw rectangle data of the element instead of the element itself. The rectangle data is an object containing the element's dimensions and offsets.

Property	Description
width	The element's width in pixels.
height	The element's height in pixels.
left	The element's left edge offset from the left edge of the document in pixels.
top	The element's top edge offset from the top edge of the document in pixels.

BoxRectFull

type BoxRectFull = {
  width: number;
  height: number;
  left: number;
  top: number;
  right: number;
  bottom: number;
};

This is a variation of the BoxRect type that also contains the element's right and bottom edge offsets.

Property	Description
width	The element's width in pixels.
height	The element's height in pixels.
left	The element's left edge offset from the left edge of the document in pixels.
top	The element's top edge offset from the top edge of the document in pixels.
right	The element's right edge offset from the left edge of the document in pixels.
bottom	The element's bottom edge offset from the top edge of the document in pixels.

BoxElement

type BoxElement = Element | Document | Window;

Box element can be any HTML/SVG element, Document or Window.

BoxObject

type BoxObject = BoxElement | [BoxElement, BoxElementEdge] | BoxRect;

Many methods allow you to define either a box element, a box element with a box edge or a box rectangle data object.

Type	Description
BoxElement	Any HTML/SVG element, Document or Window. Uses "border" box edge.
[BoxElement, BoxElementEdge]	Any HTML/SVG element, Document or Window with box edge explicitly defined.
BoxRect	An object containing the element's dimensions and offsets.

Browser support

Mezr supports all modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and is tested on various devices and platforms. Thanks to BrowserStack for sponsoring the testing infrastructure!

Tested browsers

OS	Version	Device	Browser	Version
Windows	11	-	Chrome	Latest
Windows	11	-	Firefox	Latest
Windows	11	-	Edge	Latest
OS X	Sonoma	-	Chrome	Latest
OS X	Sonoma	-	Firefox	Latest
OS X	Sonoma	-	Edge	Latest
OS X	Sonoma	-	Safari	Latest
OS X	Ventura	-	Chrome	Latest
OS X	Ventura	-	Firefox	Latest
OS X	Ventura	-	Edge	Latest
OS X	Ventura	-	Safari	Latest
iOS	16	iPhone 14	Safari	Latest
iOS	17	iPhone 15	Safari	Latest
Android	13	Samsung Galaxy S23	Chrome	Latest
Android	12	Samsung Galaxy S22	Chrome	Latest
Android	11	Samsung Galaxy S21	Chrome	Latest
Android	10	Samsung Galaxy S20	Chrome	Latest
Android	9	Samsung Galaxy S10	Chrome	Latest
Android	14	Google Pixel 6 Pro	Chrome	Latest
Android	13	Google Pixel 7	Chrome	Latest
Android	11	OnePlus 9	Chrome	Latest

License

Copyright © 2015 Niklas Rämö. Licensed under the MIT license.