# Solved: CSS Operator ('>') Question



## pcpro17

Hello. I've seen this operator ('>') used in various CSS sheets on the web, but I'm having a little trouble finding documentation on it. Does anyone know what '>' (greater than sign) is supposed to do in CSS? Thanks!


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## namenotfound

It means parent/child

example:

html>body

that's saying that body is a child of html, which is true as you will see here:



Code:


<html>
   <body>
   </body>
</html>

(body is the child because it's wrapped within html tags)

However, some browsers like IE6 (not sure about IE7) don't understand '>' very well, if at all.


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## pcpro17

Thanks, that's very helpful! But, how is


Code:


<style>html > body { ... }</style>

different from


Code:


<style>html body { ... }</style>

?


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## namenotfound

Well they mean slightly different things, however they have almost the same effect.

Since IE doesn't understand '>' too well, most everyone just uses the second example anyway. That is: *html body {...}*

If you wanna know everything W3C has to say about CSS, give this page a look:
http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/


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## pcpro17

Thanks for the clarification!


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