input / button elements not shrinking in a flex container
When using input and button elements inside a flex container, the flex
and/or flex-grow
properties don't seem to do anything.
Code that demonstrates my issue.
button,
input {
font-size: 1rem;
}
button {
border: none;
background-color: #333;
color: #EEE;
}
input {
border: 1px solid #AAA;
padding-left: 0.5rem;
}
.inputrow {
width: 30rem;
display: flex;
margin: 0 -.25rem;
}
.inputrow>* {
margin: 0 .25rem;
border-radius: 2px;
height: 1.75rem;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.nickname {
flex: 1;
}
.message {
flex: 4;
}
.s-button {
flex: 1;
}
<div class="inputrow">
<input type="text" class="nickname" placeholder="Nickname">
<input type="text" class="message" placeholder="Message">
<button type="submit" class="s-button">Submit</button>
</div>
Code that shows what I'm expecting. (using DIVs instead of input
and button
).
.inputrow {
width: 30rem;
display: flex;
flex-flow: row nowrap;
margin: 0 -.25rem;
}
.inputrow>* {
margin: 0 .25rem;
height: 1.75rem;
}
.nickname {
flex: 1;
background-color: blue;
}
.message {
flex: 4;
background-color: red;
}
.s-button {
flex: 1;
background-color: green;
}
<div class="inputrow">
<div class="nickname">Nickname</div>
<div class="message">Message</div>
<div class="s-button">Submit</div>
</div>
An input
element, unlike a div
, comes with a default width.
Here's a simple illustration of this setting:
The browser automatically gives the input
a width.
input {
border: 1px solid blue;
display: inline;
}
div {
border: 1px solid red;
display: inline;
}
<form>
<input>
<br><br>
<div></div>
</form>
Also, an initial setting on flex items is min-width: auto
. This means that items cannot shrink below their width on the main axis.
Hence, input
elements cannot shrink below their default width and may be forced to overflow the flex container.
You can override this behavior by setting your inputs to min-width: 0
(revised codepen)
Here's a full explanation: Why don't flex items shrink past content size?
In some cases, you may need to override input widths using width: 100%
or width: 0
.
I would like to extend Michael_B solution
In some cases, you may need to override input widths using width: 100% or width: 0.
you can also do calc(100%)