What is the best way to find out the height of a row?

I'm curious to understand why setting a height value for the first flex-item in the example below results in an increase in the height of the first row.

It would be helpful to determine how to calculate the height of a row, especially when the height of the flex-container is set to auto or a specific value.

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  width: 400px;
  height: 200px;
  border: 1px solid black;
  align-items: stretch;
}

.flex-container> :nth-child(1) {
  background-color: darkorchid;
  height: 60px;
}

.flex-container> :nth-child(2) {
  background-color: darkkhaki;
}

.flex-container> :nth-child(3) {
  background-color: dodgerblue;
}

.flex-container> :nth-child(4) {
  background-color: darkgoldenrod;
}

.flex-container> :nth-child(5) {
  background-color: darkcyan;
}
<div class="flex-container">
  <span>I am number 1</span>
  <div>I am number 2</div>
  <div>I am number 3</div>
  <div>I am number 4</div>
  <span>I am number 5</span>
</div>

htmlcssflexbox

Answer №1

The default setting for a flex container is align-content: stretch. This ensures that flex lines (referred to as "rows" or "columns") will evenly expand the cross axis of the container. When no heights are specified for the items, this will be the result:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  width: 400px;
  height: 200px;
  border: 1px solid black;
  align-items: stretch;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(1) {
  background-color: darkorchid;
  /* height: 60px; */
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(2) {
  background-color: darkkhaki;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(3) {
  background-color: dodgerblue;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(4) {
  background-color: darkgoldenrod;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(5) {
  background-color: darkcyan;
}
<div class="flex-container">
  <span>I am number 1</span>
  <div>I am number 2</div>
  <div>I am number 3</div>
  <div>I am number 4</div>
  <span>I am number 5</span>
</div>

In a container with height: 200px and align-items: stretch, both lines of flex items will have heights of 100px.

When you explicitly set a height on a flex item, it consumes available space. Only the remaining space contributes to align-content: stretch.

For instance, if the first item has a height: 60px, there would theoretically be 140px of free space left in the cross axis. This leftover space is distributed equally among both lines.

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  width: 400px;
  height: 200px;
  border: 1px solid black;
  align-items: stretch;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(1) {
  background-color: darkorchid;
  height: 60px;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(2) {
  background-color: darkkhaki;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(3) {
  background-color: dodgerblue;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(4) {
  background-color: darkgoldenrod;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(5) {
  background-color: darkcyan;
}
<div class="flex-container">
  <span>I am number 1</span>
  <div>I am number 2</div>
  <div>I am number 3</div>
  <div>I am number 4</div>
  <span>I am number 5</span>
</div>

However, instead of seeing items 2, 3, and 4 with heights of 130px, and item 5 with a height of 70px, the actual heights may end up being 121px and 79px due to factors like text content affecting the overall space consumption.

This discrepancy in height distribution can also be influenced by font sizes, as changes in font size can lead to unequal flex line heights.

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  width: 400px;
  height: 200px;
  border: 1px solid black;
  align-items: stretch;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(1) {
  background-color: darkorchid;
  /* height: 60px; */
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(2) {
  background-color: darkkhaki;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(3) {
  background-color: dodgerblue;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(4) {
  background-color: darkgoldenrod;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(5) {
  background-color: darkcyan;
  font-size: 2em; /* demo */
}
<div class="flex-container">
  <span>I am number 1</span>
  <div>I am number 2</div>
  <div>I am number 3</div>
  <div>I am number 4</div>
  <span>I am number 5</span>
</div>

Additional resources:

  • Removing gaps between wrapped flex items
  • Understanding the impact of width and height on flex item rendering
  • Exploring how flex-wrap interacts with align-self, align-items, and align-content

Answer №2

.flex-container {
        
        display: flex;
        flex-wrap: wrap;
        width: 400px;
        height: 200px;
        border: 1px solid black;
        align-items: stretch;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(1) {
        background-color: darkorchid;
        height: 100%;   
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(2) {
        background-color: darkkhaki;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(3) {
        background-color: dodgerblue;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(4) {
        background-color: darkgoldenrod;
}

.flex-container > :nth-child(5) {
        background-color: darkcyan;
        height: 100%;
}
 <div class="flex-container">
      <span>I am the first item</span>
      <div>I am the second item</div>
      <div>I am the third item</div>
      <div>I am the fourth item</div>
      <span>I am the fifth item</span>
</div>

Answer №3

When you set flex-wrap: wrap, be prepared for unexpected behavior in the flex-container as you add elements with different widths and heights. This can make it challenging to determine the height of the first row as new items are added.

In your code, the flex-container has a fixed height of 200px and width of 400px. This ensures that regardless of the number of elements within the flex-container, it will not exceed the specified dimensions. Each item will strive to occupy the available space.

Due to align-items: stretch, each row will adopt the height of the element with the greatest height. Therefore, adjusting the height of one item may not always impact the overall row height.

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