How to Make a Div Element Expand to Fill Unknown Space?

I have a box with the word "Test" inside it. I need to adjust its width to be 100% of its containing div, but I'm unsure about how to do this without using Javascript. The example in the jsFiddle linked below demonstrates what I am trying to achieve.

Link to JsFiddle example: http://jsfiddle.net/a6ZCR/3/

Below is a snippet of the code:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Sample Page</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="Assets/CSS/Global/Global.css" />
</head>
<body>
<div id="Wrapper">
    <div id="Header">
        <div id="HeaderInner">
            <a href="#" class="HeaderLink Main">Link</a>
            <a href="#" class="HeaderLink Main">Link</a>
            <a href="#" class="HeaderLink Main">Link</a>
            <a href="#" class="HeaderLink Main">Link</a>

            <a href="#" class="HeaderLink Side">Log In</a>
            <a href="#" class="HeaderLink Side">Register</a>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div id="Menu">

    </div>

    <div id="Body">
        <div id="BodyPadding">
            <div class="BasicBox">
                Test
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

The corresponding CSS:

/* CSS Styles */
html, body, #Wrapper {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    background-color: #F4F4F4;
    font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 15px;
}

#Header {
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    display: block;
    width: 100%;
    min-width: 965px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: #333;
    z-index: 1000;
}
// Remaining CSS styles omitted for brevity...

Answer №1

divs will always take up the full width of their containing element unless specified otherwise.

The issue here is that your containing element, #Body, has been positioned absolutely, causing it to only be as wide as its contents rather than taking up the full width of the page. This means that setting .BasicBox to 100% width will be based on the auto width of an absolutely positioned element.

To solve this problem, you'll need to adjust the width of #Body to meet your requirements.

Answer №2

Check out this functional fiddle with responsive design using pure CSS. No fixed widths, just auto or 100%. I made minimal changes to achieve this. http://jsfiddle.net/shayl/a6ZCR/4/

Initially, the width of #Body was only based on the content due to the 'auto' setting, resulting in it taking the size of individual words rather than its container.

#Body {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50px;
    left: 220px;
    width: auto;
    height: auto;
    min-height: 100%;
}

To address this, I updated the width property to 100%.

#Body {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50px;
    left: 220px;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    min-height: 100%;
}   

A similar adjustment was made to BodyPadding where width and height were missing.

#BodyPadding {
    padding: 30px;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
}

Lastly, I replaced 'auto' with 'inherit' for the BasicBox class to inherit heights from its parent elements:

.BasicBox {
    width: inherit;
    height: inherit;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 20px;
    background-color: #FFF;
    border-bottom: 4px solid #DDD;
}

Here is the complete working CSS code:

/* Layout */
html, body, #Wrapper {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    width: 100%;
    min-width: 1000px;
    height: 100%;
    background-color: #F4F4F4;
    font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 15px;
}
#Header {
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    display: block;
    width: 100%;
    min-width: 965px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: #333;
    z-index: 1000;
}
#HeaderInner {
    display: block;
    width: 965px;
    height: 50px;
    margin: 0 auto;
    padding: 0;
}
#Content {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50px;
    left: 0;
    display: block;
    width: 100%;
    min-width: 965px;
    height: 100%;
}
#Menu {
    position: fixed;
    top: 50px;
    left: 0;
    width: 220px;
    height: auto;
    min-height: 100%;
    background-color: #FFF;
    border-right: 1px solid #DDD;
}
#Body {
    position: absolute;
    top: 50px;
    left: 220px;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    min-height: 100%;
}
#BodyPadding {
    padding: 30px;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
}
/* Layout End */

/* Links */
.HeaderLink.Main {
    float: left;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0 35px;
    color: #E1E1E1;
    text-align: center;
    font-weight: bold;
    text-decoration: none;
    line-height: 50px;
    box-sizing: border-box;
    -moz-box-sizing: border-box;
    -webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
    transition: color .2s ease-in-out;
    -moz-transition: color .2s ease-in-out;
    -webkit-transition: color .2s ease-in-out;
}
.HeaderLink.Main:hover {
    color: #FFF;
    border-top: 4px solid #DC3522;
    line-height: 43px;
}
.HeaderLink.Side {
    float: right;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0 20px;
    color: #E1E1E1;
    text-align: center;
    text-decoration: none;
    line-height: 50px;
    transition: color .2s ease-in-out;
    -moz-transition: color .2s ease-in-out;
    -webkit-transition: color .2s ease-in-out;
}
.HeaderLink.Side:hover {
    color: #FFF;
}
/* Links End */

/* Objects */
.BasicBox {
    width: inherit;
    height: inherit;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 20px;
    background-color: #FFF;
    border-bottom: 4px solid #DDD;
}
/* Objects End */

Answer №3

.StandardContainer {
    display: block;
    width: 100%;
}

Currently, you have margin: 10px. To ensure .StandardContainer fills its container properly, the margin might be causing issues. I suggest changing the margin to 0.

Similar questions

If you have not found the answer to your question or you are interested in this topic, then look at other similar questions below or use the search

Saving and retrieving user input as a variable using Javascript and HTML local storage

This is the foundation of my HTML page. When the "remember text" paragraph is clicked, the data in the input text box is saved to local storage as a string. Clicking the "recall text" paragraph loads the stored data into the "recalled text" paragraph. I am ...

"Automatically scroll back to the top of the page once new content

Is there a way to automatically scroll the page to the top after content has been loaded via Ajax? Here is the code I am using to display the content: $(document).ready(function () { var my_layout = $('#container').layout(); $("a.item_l ...

Creating an array of form input names using JavaScript within the HTML input tag

I have a two part question that I'm hoping someone can help me with. There was a similar question asked recently that included information about this particular type of array in PHP, but unfortunately, I can't seem to locate it at the moment. 1. ...

Displaying information collected from a submission form

I am in the process of designing a cheerful birthday card and I need to transfer data from a form to the birthday card page. How can I take information from the first div (which contains the form) and display that data in the second div? <!DOCTYPE ...

The data-tooltip feature displays information as [Object object]

There seems to be an issue with displaying text in the data-tooltip. Instead of showing the intended message, it is displaying [Object object]. import React from "react"; import { FormattedMessage } from "react-intl"; const translate = (id, value={}) = ...

Continuous addition of Node structures in a tree

I am attempting to append a node tree to the DOM that has been created using createHTMLDocument. Originally, I approached it like this: (doc represents the node tree) while(doc.head.children.length > 0){ iframewin.document.head.appendChild(doc. ...

Toggle the class and execute the order within a jQuery script

When the mouse moves in, the jQuery trigger enters the status. $(".test").bind("mouseenter mouseout", function(event) { $(this).toggleClass("entered"); alert("mouse position (" + event.pageX + "," + event.pageY + ")"); }); .entered { ...

Room available on the body's right side for tiny gadgets

I'm currently facing a website issue while using Bootstrap. Everything seems to be working fine until I attempt to check the responsiveness of my website. There appears to be an excessive white space on the right side of my body, but only in a specifi ...

I am concerned about the security of my games as they can be easily hacked through right-click inspect. What measures can

As a newcomer to game development, I am creating web games using JS, HTML, and CSS. However, I have encountered an issue with preventing right-click inspect hacking, which has led to people hacking my games through this method. I am wondering, how can I s ...

What is the best way to assign a jQuery variable to a PHP variable?

After spending some time searching and working on it, I still can't figure out the answer to this straightforward question. Here is the code I have been struggling with. <script> function calculate() { var total = (parseInt($('#stude ...

JavaScript to enable button functionality for selected items

Currently, I am developing a To-Do List application. Once users input information, it gets displayed in a table format. My objective is to have the ability to select specific items from this table and apply various button functionalities to them such as ma ...

Whenever I select the checkbox, it causes my Bootstrap modal pop-up to close unexpectedly

I have created a form in a modal popup with 5 checkboxes where autopostback is set to true. Whenever I click on one of the checkboxes, the modal popup automatically closes. I have also used an update panel and included ScriptManager.RegisterStartupScrip ...

Display a loading image during the execution of the Exec_Shell Script

Looking to add a loading image while script.sh is executing Check out the code snippet below: <?php if (isset($_POST['restartserver'])) { shell_exec("my-script.sh"); } ?> <html> <body> &l ...

Ways to Adjust the Earth's Position in WebGL Earth

I have been working with this WebGL Earth component for my project, but I am facing difficulty in adjusting the position of the planet on the canvas. My intention was to place the planet at the bottom of the page, but I haven't been able to achieve th ...

The component's width appears to be constrained by the use of display flex

I am currently working on a reactjs application that includes a header and another component. Initially, everything looks fine, but when I apply display: flex to their div, it seems to reduce the width of the header. Here are some images showing the issue: ...

Why is it that the z-index doesn't seem to affect the stacking order of my background image?

I am facing an issue with my Bootstrap carousel where the z-index is not working as expected. The decoration I have in the background is overlapping the text instead of appearing behind it. I want the illustration to be positioned under the text. .carou ...

Navigation bar with dropdown functionality that adjusts its width based on the content inside

Need help with a CSS dropdown menu issue on my WordPress site. The contents of the submenus are too wide, even after setting a static width for them. I'm looking for a way to make the submenu width adjust dynamically based on the title length. Any exp ...

Is it feasible to have fixed headers adopt the width property?

Is there a way to align the widths of table elements while maintaining a fixed header row? If the 'fixed' property is disabled, the width spaces correctly but the header won't stay fixed and will scroll out of the container div. Enabling the ...

Is it advisable to set the html root at 62.5% when using rem units in CSS? Does this imply that the default font size of browsers is 16px?

During a discussion with a group, I mentioned the 62.5% trick for scalability (setting 62.5% as font size in root and using rem units throughout CSS for easier scalability when users change default browser font size) and their arguments were as follows: " ...

Display an image using a modal window and Ajax XMLHttpRequest

I was tasked with creating a button that can load various types of content (text, images, videos, etc) into a modal popup window using Ajax without any frameworks. So far, I've been successful with text but have run into issues with loading images. De ...