stopping a float-left div from being pushed down by a table

I am facing an issue with two float:left divs that are supposed to stack left-to-right. One div is a fixed width left nav, while the other should span the remaining width of the browser. The problem arises when there is a table in the second div with multiple columns of tabular results. When the cumulative text in the table cells pushes the table width to match the div's size, the div moves under the left nav.

Is there a way to constrain the table from expanding beyond the parent div's width and instead make the text wrap inside the cells? I would prefer not having to use JS for this purpose.

<div id="container">
    <div id="leftNav" style="width:250px;">
    left<br>nav<br>here<br>        
    </div>
    <div id="mainContent">
        <table>
            <tr><td>about</td><td>10</td><td>Columns and they can contain sentences of text as well, but I'd like to not have the table push the div it's in down below the left nav div.  This illustrates that point!</td></tr>
        </table>
    </div>
</div>

and the css:

#container{
    width:100%;
}
#leftNav{
    float:left;
    width:250px;
    border:1px solid #ccc;
    padding:15px;
}
#mainContent{
    float:left;
    background-color:aliceblue;
}
/* nothing more*/

Answer №1

If you're looking for a layout where the columns always line up regardless of their content width, using display:table is the way to go.

  • html,body { height: 100%; } allows percentage heights for child elements of <body>

  • The container has display: table

  • Each column has display: table-cell

  • The left column has a fixed width and the right column has no specified width

Potential downside - display: table is only compatible with IE8 onwards

Learn more about display values on MDN.

CSS / HTML / Demo

* {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}
html,
body {
  height: 100%;
}
#container {
  width: 100%;
  display: table;
  height: 100%;
}
#leftNav {
  display: table-cell;
  vertical-align: top;
  width: 250px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  padding: 15px;
}
#mainContent {
  display: table-cell;
  vertical-align: top;
  background-color: aliceblue;
}
/* nothing more*/
<div id="container">
  <div id="leftNav">left
    <br>nav
    <br>here
    <br>
  </div>
  <div id="mainContent">
    <table>
      <tr>
        <td>about</td>
        <td>10</td>
        <td>Columns and they can contain sentences of text as well, but I'd like to not have the table push the div it's in down below the left nav div. This illustrates that point!</td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </div>
</div>

Answer №2

Arrange the two parent div elements to appear as inline tables, with the table behaving like a child table and assuming typical table behavior. To ensure that cell values completely fit within the width of the cell, you can utilize word-break: break-all; which will display characters in line and break when necessary.

div {
    display: inline-table;
    word-break: break-all;
    width: 40%;
}
<div>
  <p>Hello World</p>
</div>

<div>
  <table>
    <tr>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
      <td>Table</td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</div>

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

Tips on positioning a div based on the screen dimensions

In my table, there is an icon that reveals a chart as a popup when hovered over. This div is where the chart is displayed: <div id="chart-outer" style="@style" class="popup-chart close"> <h2 id="charttitle&q ...

What methods can you use to locate the CSS selector within HTML that meets certain criteria?

Is it possible to parse a given link and find CSS selectors with attributes that partially or completely match a specific keyword? For example, if the keyword is "print," I want to identify all CSS selectors in the link containing "print" in their name, id ...

Concealed div obstructing access to dropdown menu

I'm having some trouble creating a dropdown menu. The submenu I've created is appearing behind my wrapper, page, and content. I've attempted to adjust the z-index of various elements and have even tried setting the z-index of my menu and sub ...

Maximizing CSS opacity for optimal performance in image fading

I'm working on creating a smooth fade in-out effect for the images in my photo gallery by adjusting the CSS opacity value using JavaScript. However, I've noticed that this process is quite sluggish on certain computers, such as my relatively new ...

Tips for showcasing overflowing text in a menu list by rotating the item text

Imagine you have a TextMenuItem component, using MenuItem from the Material-UI library, that is part of a chain consisting of DropDownSearch > SimpleListMenu > FixedSizeList > TextMenuItem. In simple terms, this creates a searchable dropdown element with t ...

What impact does the text-shadow property have on altering the color of hsla text?

I created a header that changes color to be slightly transparent with a black outline when hovered over (achieved using 4 text-shadows). However, I encountered an issue when trying to use hsla() to define the color. The color defaults to black with 100% o ...

I am having difficulty creating grid-template-columns in Vue

When I placed my code in the style scoped section... This is the desired output that I'm aiming for: .user-grid{ display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(200px, 1fr)); grid-gap: 1rem; } .user-car ...

Span tag not respecting CSS width property

One of my spans is causing an issue. Here are the styles in question: .form_container .col1che { float: left; width: 4%; text-align: left; } .form_container .col2che { float: left; width: 80%; text-align:left; } .form_container .col3che { float: ...

Exploring the world of CSS and designing layouts using multiple div elements

Upon reviewing this website, I must admit it is getting close to what I envision. However, being a perfectionist and new to HTML and CSS, I find myself struggling to achieve the desired outcome. The layout consists of two divs named topred and top yellow, ...

Adjust the horizontal position of a text element using CSS

I am faced with a specific challenge where I need to center the text "test" within a text tag using only CSS, without being able to directly change the HTML. <text width="13.89" height="13.89" x="291.46999999999997" y="156.55" transform= ...

Using jQuery AJAX to preload GIF images for CSS background-image loading

For some time, I have been utilizing jQuery AJAX to preload GIF images with the following code: $("#images").html("<img id='loader' src='../img/ajax-loader.gif' />"); Now, I am attempting to achieve a similar effect (such as a s ...

Box Pattern with Pop-Up Modal

Check out the grid of squares I've coded below: <div class='square-container'> <div class='square'></div> <div class='square'></div> <div class='square'></div& ...

How can you change a particular inline style using the Firefox browser?

I am looking for a solution to override an inline style on a specific webpage within the Firefox browser without access to the source code. Previously, I would manually modify the page source using Firefox development tools. Specifically, I encounter a we ...

Guidelines for dynamically passing HTML attribute values into a CSS selector using a variable in Protractor

After successfully locating the button on the row using its value stored in the "title" HTML attribute, I am now faced with the task of passing a dynamic value to this attribute. To achieve this, I have declared it as a variable. However, I am unsure about ...

When dynamically adding input fields in Bootstrap, there is a smaller gap between inline inputs

When adding a new list item dynamically in a modal using jQuery append, the spacing in the first li element seems to have a larger gap between the input fields compared to the rest that are added later. Even after checking the developer tools and confirmin ...

How can the background of a div be altered when text is typed into an input field?

I need help with the following code. I want to be able to change the background color of a div with the class "target_bg" from red (default) to green every time someone enters or types text into the input field. <div class="target_bg"></div> & ...

Troubles encountered with image referencing while generating a styleguide via kss-node

I'm currently utilizing the NodeJS implementation of KSS for my project. The file structure I am working with is as follows: styles (.scss files) public (compiled .css files) images (images & sprites) guide (auto-generated style ...

When using Italics, the conflict arises between the specified line-height and the actual height of the

Recently, I encountered an issue that has me a bit perplexed: I have a span element with line-height set to 18px and font-size at 16px. Everything works perfectly when the text inside is regular; the height of the span remains at 18 pixels. The problem a ...

Adjust the background hue of the Row in the Table

Is there a way to update the background color of a Table Row? I attempted using "BackgroundColor" but didn't see any changes Any suggestions on how to fix this issue? <TableRow style={{ backgroundColor: "#FF0000" }}> <TableCell& ...

Tips for aligning multiline text in the center of images with varying widths

Excuse my lack of experience, but I have a question, I am looking to center a header and some text next to an image with variable width. Additionally, the text should be able to position on either side of the image, while still being coded first in the HT ...