Creating a column in CSS that maximizes width without utilizing 100% or causing text wrap

Question

Creating a column in CSS that maximizes width without utilizing 100% or causing text wrap

Trying to keep a three-column div from spilling over the page can be tricky. The first two columns must not exceed 200px, while the third column should be at least 280px wide. The issue arises when there is a table in the third column with long sentences inside td tags causing the column to widen and spill over.

If setting the table width to 100% causes the third column to overflow below the first two columns, you may need to use a fixed width for the table. This contradicts the goal of having the page size itself automatically. Is there a workaround for this dilemma?

<div class="column1">
</div>
<div class="column2">
</div>
<div class="column3">
    <table width="300px"> <!- would prefer 100% -->
    </table>
</div>

CSS Code:

div.column1, div.column2 {
    float: left;
    max-width: 280px;
    padding: 5px;
}

div.column3 {
    float: left;
    min-width: 280px;
    padding: 5px;
}

.column3 table {
    table-layout: fixed;
    word-wrap: break-word;
}

.column3 td {
    white-space: normal;
    word-wrap: break-word;
}

html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

To achieve the desired layout without wrapping your <div>s, you can utilize the calc function along with an overflow container.

Here is the HTML code:

<div class="overflow">
<div class="column1">
    text and text and text and text
</div>
<div class="column2">
    cakes and cakes and cakes and cakes
</div>
<div class="column3">
    <table width="300px">
        <tr><td>pie</td><td>foo</td><td>bar</td></tr>
        <tr><td>left</td><td>center</td><td>right</td></tr>
    </table>
</div>
</div>

The corresponding CSS code is as follows:

*{
    padding:0;
    margin:0;
}
div.overflow{
    min-width:700px;
}
div.column1, div.column2 {
    float: left;
    max-width:200px;
    padding: 5px;
    background-color:red;
}

div.column3 {
    float: left;
    min-width:280px;
    padding: 5px;
    background-color:blue;
    width:calc(100% - 410px);
}

.column3 table {
    table-layout:fixed;
    word-wrap:break-word;
    width:100%;
}

.column3 td {
    white-space: normal;
    word-wrap:break-word;
}

You can view a working example at this link: http://jsfiddle.net/BbJW9/

Answer 2

To achieve the desired layout without wrapping your <div>s, you can utilize the calc function along with an overflow container.

Here is the HTML code:

<div class="overflow">
<div class="column1">
    text and text and text and text
</div>
<div class="column2">
    cakes and cakes and cakes and cakes
</div>
<div class="column3">
    <table width="300px">
        <tr><td>pie</td><td>foo</td><td>bar</td></tr>
        <tr><td>left</td><td>center</td><td>right</td></tr>
    </table>
</div>
</div>

The corresponding CSS code is as follows:

*{
    padding:0;
    margin:0;
}
div.overflow{
    min-width:700px;
}
div.column1, div.column2 {
    float: left;
    max-width:200px;
    padding: 5px;
    background-color:red;
}

div.column3 {
    float: left;
    min-width:280px;
    padding: 5px;
    background-color:blue;
    width:calc(100% - 410px);
}

.column3 table {
    table-layout:fixed;
    word-wrap:break-word;
    width:100%;
}

.column3 td {
    white-space: normal;
    word-wrap:break-word;
}

You can view a working example at this link: http://jsfiddle.net/BbJW9/

Answer 3

Answer №2

There are several different strategies that can be used to achieve the desired layout. One option is to utilize table-cell for the columns, as demonstrated in this example.

Example

Are you able to adapt this solution to fit your needs?

CSS

.cols {
    display: table-cell;
    overflow-x: wrap;
}

.left {
    min-width: 10px;
    max-width: 200px;
    height: 200px;
    background-color: red;
    color: white;
}
.middle {
    min-width: 10px;
    max-width: 200px;
    height: 200px;
    background-color: white;
}
.right {
    min-width: 280px;
    height: 200px;
    background-color: blue;
    color: white;
}

Answer 4

There are several different strategies that can be used to achieve the desired layout. One option is to utilize table-cell for the columns, as demonstrated in this example.

Example

Are you able to adapt this solution to fit your needs?

CSS

.cols {
    display: table-cell;
    overflow-x: wrap;
}

.left {
    min-width: 10px;
    max-width: 200px;
    height: 200px;
    background-color: red;
    color: white;
}
.middle {
    min-width: 10px;
    max-width: 200px;
    height: 200px;
    background-color: white;
}
.right {
    min-width: 280px;
    height: 200px;
    background-color: blue;
    color: white;
}

Creating a column in CSS that maximizes width without utilizing 100% or causing text wrap

Answer №1

Answer №2

Similar questions

Is there a way to use a specific keyboard input to alter the characteristics of shapes on my webpage?

Unique content on a web page when it is loaded with HTML

Discovered a critical vulnerability that requires your attention. Execute `npm audit fix` to resolve the issue, or use `npm audit` for more information

Increase transparency of scrollbar background

Is IE8 compatible with HTML5 and CSS3?

Bringing in Sequentially Arranged HTML Content using Asynchronous JavaScript Integration

The <form> element is giving me headaches in my JavaScript code

The images are not clickable when trying to hyperlink them

Unable to completely conceal the borders of Material UI Cards

Removing all HTML elements within the div container

What is the most effective way to implement a single modal throughout my web application without having to duplicate HTML code on each page?

Navigate to the editing page with Thymeleaf in the spring framework, where the model attribute is passed

Removing dropdown lists from input forms can be achieved without using jQuery by utilizing vanilla JavaScript

every cell should be painted a distinct hue

What sets apart the <script> tag with a type attribute from the standard <script> tag in HTML?

The flash movie covers part of the menu that is relatively positioned

The mdb navigation bar seems to constantly change its height

Creating a interactive navigation bar with External JSON data in HTML and JavaScript

Utilizing a Bootstrap column design with two columns in place - one column set at a fixed width while the second column stretches across the remaining

What causes the container's height to remain unchanged despite changes in the height of its image content?