How to dynamically create CSS class in JavaScript and apply?

I need to create a CSS stylesheet class dynamically in JavaScript and assign it to some HTML elements like - div, table, span, tr, etc and to some controls like asp:Textbox, Dropdownlist and datalist.

Is it possible?

It would be nice with a sample.


Although I'm not sure why you want to create CSS classes with JavaScript, here is an option:

var style = document.createElement('style');
style.type = 'text/css';
style.innerHTML = '.cssClass { color: #F00; }';
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(style);

document.getElementById('someElementId').className = 'cssClass';

Found a better solution, which works across all browsers.
Uses document.styleSheet to add or replace rules. Accepted answer is short and handy but this works across IE8 and less too.

function createCSSSelector (selector, style) {
  if (!document.styleSheets) return;
  if (document.getElementsByTagName('head').length == 0) return;

  var styleSheet,mediaType;

  if (document.styleSheets.length > 0) {
    for (var i = 0, l = document.styleSheets.length; i < l; i++) {
      if (document.styleSheets[i].disabled) 
        continue;
      var media = document.styleSheets[i].media;
      mediaType = typeof media;

      if (mediaType === 'string') {
        if (media === '' || (media.indexOf('screen') !== -1)) {
          styleSheet = document.styleSheets[i];
        }
      }
      else if (mediaType=='object') {
        if (media.mediaText === '' || (media.mediaText.indexOf('screen') !== -1)) {
          styleSheet = document.styleSheets[i];
        }
      }

      if (typeof styleSheet !== 'undefined') 
        break;
    }
  }

  if (typeof styleSheet === 'undefined') {
    var styleSheetElement = document.createElement('style');
    styleSheetElement.type = 'text/css';
    document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(styleSheetElement);

    for (i = 0; i < document.styleSheets.length; i++) {
      if (document.styleSheets[i].disabled) {
        continue;
      }
      styleSheet = document.styleSheets[i];
    }

    mediaType = typeof styleSheet.media;
  }

  if (mediaType === 'string') {
    for (var i = 0, l = styleSheet.rules.length; i < l; i++) {
      if(styleSheet.rules[i].selectorText && styleSheet.rules[i].selectorText.toLowerCase()==selector.toLowerCase()) {
        styleSheet.rules[i].style.cssText = style;
        return;
      }
    }
    styleSheet.addRule(selector,style);
  }
  else if (mediaType === 'object') {
    var styleSheetLength = (styleSheet.cssRules) ? styleSheet.cssRules.length : 0;
    for (var i = 0; i < styleSheetLength; i++) {
      if (styleSheet.cssRules[i].selectorText && styleSheet.cssRules[i].selectorText.toLowerCase() == selector.toLowerCase()) {
        styleSheet.cssRules[i].style.cssText = style;
        return;
      }
    }
    styleSheet.insertRule(selector + '{' + style + '}', styleSheetLength);
  }
}

Function is used as follows.

createCSSSelector('.mycssclass', 'display:none');

Short answer, this is compatible "on all browsers" (specifically, IE8/7):

function createClass(name,rules){
    var style = document.createElement('style');
    style.type = 'text/css';
    document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(style);
    if(!(style.sheet||{}).insertRule) 
        (style.styleSheet || style.sheet).addRule(name, rules);
    else
        style.sheet.insertRule(name+"{"+rules+"}",0);
}
createClass('.whatever',"background-color: green;");

And this final bit applies the class to an element:

function applyClass(name,element,doRemove){
    if(typeof element.valueOf() == "string"){
        element = document.getElementById(element);
    }
    if(!element) return;
    if(doRemove){
        element.className = element.className.replace(new RegExp("\\b" + name + "\\b","g"));
    }else{      
        element.className = element.className + " " + name;
    }
}

Here's a little test page as well: https://gist.github.com/shadybones/9816763

The key little bit is the fact that style elements have a "styleSheet"/"sheet" property which you can use to to add/remove rules on.