Make a div fill the height of the remaining screen space

How to Make a Div Fill the Height of the Remaining Screen Space 📏🌆

Are you struggling to make a div fill the height of the remaining screen space on your web application? Don't worry, we've got you covered! 🙌

The Challenge 🤔

Let's say you have a web page with a header section that contains a logo and account information, which could be of arbitrary height. Your goal is to make the content div fill the rest of the page's height, reaching the bottom of the screen. But here's the catch: you're currently using a table for layout purposes. So, is it possible to achieve the same effect without using a table? Let's find out! 💪

The Solution ✨

1. CSS Flexbox to the Rescue 🎩

Flexbox is a powerful CSS layout model that can help us solve this challenge. You can transform the existing table layout into a flex container by applying the following CSS properties to the parent div:

#page {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  height: 100vh; /* Use vh unit for viewport height */
}

The display: flex property turns the div into a flex container, while flex-direction: column stacks the child divs vertically. Finally, height: 100vh ensures the container div takes up 100% of the viewport height.

2. Adjusting Child Divs 📉

Now that our parent div is flexing its muscles, let's adjust the child divs accordingly:

#tdheader {
  flex: 0;
}

#tdcontent {
  flex: 1;
  overflow: auto;
}

Setting flex: 0 on the header div prevents it from stretching vertically. On the other hand, flex: 1 on the content div tells it to expand and fill the remaining space while taking scrollable content into account.

3. Remove the Table 🚮

With the above CSS modifications, you can safely remove the table structure and update your HTML accordingly:

<div id="page">
  <div id="tdheader">
    <div id="header">...</div>
  </div>
  <div id="tdcontent">
    <div id="content">...</div>
  </div>
</div>

By swapping the table cells (td) with regular divs, you simplify the structure and embrace the flexibility of CSS flexbox layout.

4. Update: Dealing with Percentage Heights 📊

If you have elements inside the content div that also need to fill a specific percentage of the remaining space, fear not! Using the concept of nesting flex containers, you can achieve that too. Let's assume you want an element inside the content div to take up 50% of the remaining height:

#content-inner {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
}

#element {
  flex: 1;
}

By nesting the desired element inside another flex container called content-inner, you can

aflex: 1 ensures that the element expands to fill the remaining vertical space within the content-inner container.

Conclusion 🎉

You no longer need to rely on tables to make a div fill the height of the remaining screen space! With the magic of CSS flexbox, you can easily achieve the desired layout, allowing your content div to stretch all the way to the bottom of the page.

So go ahead, give it a try and breathe new life into your web application's design! 💪

If you found this blog post helpful, feel free to share it with your friends. And if you have any questions or alternative solutions, drop us a comment below. We'd love to hear from you! 📝💬