If I understand the scenario correctly, then the current behavior seems to be incorrect if we assume that CSS references in JavaFX are semantically equivalent to custom properties as defined by the CSS Custom Properties specification [0].
The specification states: "Custom properties are ordinary properties, so they can be declared on any element, are resolved with the normal inheritance and cascade rules [...]" If you redeclare Modena's "-fx-base" property in an author stylesheet, then the new declaration will be more specific than the original declaration. This means that all of Modena's styles that are referencing "-fx-base" should now reference the more specific version of that property. However, this shouldn't change the cascading behavior of Modena's styles themselves. In other words: simply referencing a custom property shouldn't transitively make the referencing property more specific. [0] https://www.w3.org/TR/css-variables-1/#defining-variables On Tue, Jul 9, 2024 at 2:11 AM John Hendrikx <john.hendr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I realized I worded the TLDR poorly. > > Let me try again: > > TLDR; should styles which use references (like -fx-base used in Modena) > become AUTHOR level styles if -fx-base is specified in an AUTHOR stylesheet? > The act of simply specifying -fx-base in your own AUTHOR stylesheet elevates > hundreds of styles from Modena to AUTHOR level, as if you specified them > directly... > > --John
