Table striping rows in CSS Grid

Question

I'm trying to replace a grid of data & interactive components that had been set up in Bootstrap with a CSS Grid-based layout.

I was able to replicate the grid, but am having trouble getting something like table striping working.From what I understand of CSS Grid, since I know the number of columns that will be displayed ahead of time but not the number of rows (dynamically generated data from the server), I need to use grid-template-columns: repeat(3, auto);, and each cell must be a direct child of the wrapper div.

I've tried using nth-child to get the effect I want, but can't figure out what selector would let me target a dynamic range of elements.

Is there a better way to set up a grid layout using CSS Grid when the number of rows is unknown ahead of time?

Here's a fiddle with what I have so far, which includes all the code below. In my real project, the rows are dynamically generated and there are 5 columns right now- though that may change in the future.

.grid-table {
  display: grid;
  display: -ms-grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, auto);
  -ms-grid-template-columns: repeat(3, auto);
}

.grid-table :nth-child(-n+3) {
  background-color: red;
}

<div class="grid-table">
  <span>Room Name</span>
  <span>Start Date</span>
  <span>End Date</span>

  <span>Room 100</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Wednesday</span>

  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>

  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>

  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
</div>

Answer 1

These days, you could also use a an element with display:contents to contain cells (I've "grouped" them by rows or columns), and apply the style to cells that way.

.r_container {
  display:grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
  width:200px;
  justify-content:center;
  align-items:center;
  font-family:sans-serif;
}

.r_group {
  display:contents;
}

.r_group:nth-of-type(2n) > .cell {
  background-color:dimgray;
}

.cell {
  justify-content:center;
  align-items:center;
  text-align:center;
  padding-top:0.5rem;
  padding-bottom:0.5rem;
}

.header > .cell {
  background-color:black;
  color:white;
  font-weight:500;
}

<h1>Organized by Row</h1>
<div class="r_container">
  <div class="r_group header">
    <div class="cell">1</div>
    <div class="cell">2</div>
    <div class="cell">3</div>
  </div>
  <div class="r_group">
    <div class="cell">4</div>
    <div class="cell">5</div>
    <div class="cell">6</div>
  </div>
  <div class="r_group">
    <div class="cell">7</div>
    <div class="cell">8</div>
    <div class="cell">9</div>
  </div>
  <div class="r_group">
    <div class="cell">10</div>
    <div class="cell">11</div>
    <div class="cell">12</div>
  </div>
</div>

Answer 2

Use a selector that targets every other row in one column.

For other columns, simply adjust and repeat.

.grid-table {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, auto);
}

.grid-table > span:nth-child(-n+3) {
  background-color: red;
}

.grid-table > span:nth-child(6n+4),
.grid-table > span:nth-child(6n+5),
.grid-table > span:nth-child(6n+6) {
  background-color: lightgreen;
}

<div class="grid-table">
  <span>Room Name</span>
  <span>Start Date</span>
  <span>End Date</span>
  <span>Room 100</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Wednesday</span>
  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
  <span>Room Name</span>
  <span>Start Date</span>
  <span>End Date</span>
  <span>Room 100</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Wednesday</span>
  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
  <span>Room 200</span>
  <span>Tuesday</span>
  <span>Friday</span>
</div>