Layout Rules

This section provides an explanation of the correct methods for positioning visual components and layouts in your views.

Component Sizes

Components that implement com.vaadin.flow.component.HasSize (e.g. button, textField, dataGrid, vbox, etc.) have the following common attributes: width, minWidth, maxWidth, height, minHeight, maxHeight. These attributes map directly to the corresponding CSS properties.

The min/max size attributes can help in creating responsive designs, where elements need to adapt to different screen sizes. These attributes can also be used to prevent components from overflowing or becoming too large. See Tips and Tricks for a practical example.

Component dimensions can be of the following types:

Content-based - AUTO
Fixed, e.g. 25em
Relative (in percentage) to parent layout, e.g. 100%

The size value must be a correct CSS size string.

Content-Based Size

The component will take enough space to fit its content.

Examples:

For button, the size is defined by the text length.
For layouts, the size is defined by the sum of all component sizes inside the layout.

XML

<button text="Button" width="AUTO"/>

Java

button.setWidth("AUTO");

Components with content-based size will adjust their dimensions during screen layout initialization or when the content size is changed.

Fixed Size

Fixed size implies that the component dimensions will not change at runtime.

XML

<vbox width="20em" height="15em"/>

Java

vBox.setWidth("20em");
vBox.setHeight("15em");

The size can be set using absolute length units (e.g. px) or relative length units (e.g. em). All platform views and components use relative length units such as em and rem so it is possible to change the entire application size.

em is the size unit that is relative to parent font size. By default, the font size is 16px. For more information on length units, see CSS values and units.

Relative Size

Relative size indicates the percentage of available space that will be occupied by the component.

XML

<button text="Button" width="50%"/>

Java

button.setWidth("50%");

Components with relative size will react to changes in the amount of the available space and adjust their actual size on the screen.

Layout Specifics

The root layout element is a vertical layout (vbox), which by default has 100% width and height.
scroller must have fixed or relative (but not AUTO) width and height. Components inside scroller, positioned in the scrolling direction, should not have relative size.

Component Specifics

dataGrid does not need to be explicitly assigned height="100%" or expanded within vbox or root layout elements, because its flex-grow CSS property is set to 1, which means that by default it is already expanded in the parent layout. However, it is recommended to set the minHeight attribute of the dataGrid to prevent collapsing when there is insufficient vertical space.

Expanding Components

Components can be instructed to expand and take up any extra space that a layout may have.

<hbox expand="btn" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button id="btn" text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 1. Horizontal Layout with expand

<vbox expand="btn" width="100%" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button id="btn" text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 2. Vertical Layout with expand

Expanding a component effectively means that its flex-grow CSS property is set to 1.

Spacing, Margin and Padding

With spacing, margin and padding you can define an empty space around components and inside them.

Spacing

The spacing attribute toggles spacing theme setting for the component. If a theme supports this attribute, it will apply or remove spacing for the component.

Figure 3. Horizontal Layout without spacing

Figure 4. Horizontal Layout with default spacing

Figure 5. Vertical Layout with default spacing

Spacing is on by default for vbox and hbox components.

Spacing Variants

The spacing attribute implicitly adds medium spacing to the component theme, which is equivalent to defining themeNames="spacing". To set other options, use the themeNames attribute explicitly. Five different spacing theme variants are available:

Theme Variant Usage Recommendation

Theme Variant	Usage Recommendation
`spacing-xs`	Extra-small space between items
`spacing-s`	Small space between items
`spacing`	Medium space between items
`spacing-l`	Large space between items
`spacing-xl`	Extra-large space between items

spacing-xs

Extra-small space between items

spacing-s

Small space between items

spacing

Medium space between items

spacing-l

Large space between items

spacing-xl

Extra-large space between items

Example of adding spacing-xl spacing variant:

<vbox themeNames="spacing-xl" alignItems="STRETCH">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 6. Vertical Layout with spacing-xl theme variant

Padding

The padding attribute enables setting space between layout borders and nested components.

Figure 7. Vertical Layout with padding

Padding is on by default for vbox. You can turn it off by setting the padding attribute to false. For hbox, padding is off by default and can be turned on by setting the padding attribute to true.

Margin

Margin is a space around layout borders.

Figure 8. Vertical Layout with margin

Margin is off by default. You can turn it on using the margin attribute.

Alignment

JustifyContent Mode

The justifyContent attribute corresponds to the justify-content CSS property which defines how the browser distributes space between and around content items along the main axis of a flex container.

Value Descsription

Value	Descsription
`START` (default)	Items are positioned at the beginning of the container.
`CENTER`	Items are positioned at the center of the container.
`END`	Items are positioned at the end of the container.
`BETWEEN`	Items are positioned with space between the lines; first item is on the start line, last item on the end line.
`AROUND`	Items are evenly positioned in the line with equal space around them. Note that start and end gaps are half the size of the space between each item.
`EVENLY`	Items are positioned so that the spacing between any two items (and the space to the edges) is equal.

START (default)

Items are positioned at the beginning of the container.

CENTER

Items are positioned at the center of the container.

END

Items are positioned at the end of the container.

BETWEEN

Items are positioned with space between the lines; first item is on the start line, last item on the end line.

AROUND

Items are evenly positioned in the line with equal space around them. Note that start and end gaps are half the size of the space between each item.

EVENLY

Items are positioned so that the spacing between any two items (and the space to the edges) is equal.

For vbox and flexLayout with flexDirection="COLUMN" (that is when flex-direction: column) the justifyContent attribute works as follows:

<vbox justifyContent="START" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 9. Vertical Layout with justifyContent="START"

<vbox justifyContent="CENTER" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 10. Vertical Layout with justifyContent="CENTER"

<vbox justifyContent="END" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 11. Vertical Layout with justifyContent="END"

<vbox justifyContent="BETWEEN" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 12. Vertical Layout with justifyContent="BETWEEN"

<vbox justifyContent="AROUND" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 13. Vertical Layout with justifyContent="AROUND"

<vbox justifyContent="EVENLY" minHeight="20em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</vbox>

Figure 14. Vertical Layout with justifyContent="EVENLY"

For hbox and flexLayout with flexDirection="ROW" (that is when flex-direction: row), the justifyContent attribute works as follows:

<hbox justifyContent="START" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 15. Horizontal Layout with justifyContent="START"

<hbox justifyContent="CENTER" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 16. Horizontal Layout with justifyContent="CENTER"

<hbox justifyContent="END" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 17. Horizontal Layout with justifyContent="END"

<hbox justifyContent="BETWEEN" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 18. Horizontal Layout with justifyContent="BETWEEN"

<hbox justifyContent="AROUND" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 19. Horizontal Layout with justifyContent="AROUND"

<hbox justifyContent="EVENLY" padding="true" width="100%">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

Figure 20. Horizontal Layout with justifyContent="EVENLY"

AlignItems

The alignItems attribute corresponds to the align-items CSS property which defines the default behavior for how flex items are placed out along the cross axis on the current line. Think of it as the justify-content version for the cross axis (perpendicular to the main axis).

Value Description

Value	Description
`START`	Items are placed at the start of the cross axis.
`CENTER`	Items are centered in the cross axis.
`END`	Items are placed at the end of the cross axis.
`STRETCH`	Items with undefined size along the cross axis are stretched to fit the container.
`BASELINE`	Items are positioned at the baseline of the container. Works for `flex-direction: row` only.
`AUTO`	The element inherits its parent container’s align-items property, or "stretch" if it has no parent container.

START

Items are placed at the start of the cross axis.

CENTER

Items are centered in the cross axis.

END

Items are placed at the end of the cross axis.

STRETCH

Items with undefined size along the cross axis are stretched to fit the container.

BASELINE

Items are positioned at the baseline of the container. Works for flex-direction: row only.

AUTO

The element inherits its parent container’s align-items property, or "stretch" if it has no parent container.

For vbox and flexLayout with flexDirection="COLUMN" (when flex-direction: column), the justifyContent attribute works as follows:

<vbox alignItems="START">
    <button text="Button" width="6em"/>
    <button text="Button" width="7em"/>
    <button text="Button" width="5em"/>
</vbox>

Figure 21. Vertical Layout with alignItems="START"

<vbox alignItems="CENTER">
    <button text="Button" width="6em"/>
    <button text="Button" width="7em"/>
    <button text="Button" width="5em"/>
</vbox>

Figure 22. Vertical Layout with alignItems="CENTER"

<vbox alignItems="END">
    <button text="Button" width="6em"/>
    <button text="Button" width="7em"/>
    <button text="Button" width="5em"/>
</vbox>

Figure 23. Vertical Layout with alignItems="END"

<vbox alignItems="STRETCH">
    <button text="Button" width="AUTO"/>
    <button text="Button" width="AUTO"/>
    <button text="Button" width="AUTO"/>
</vbox>

Figure 24. Vertical Layout with alignItems="STRETCH"

For hbox and flexLayout with flexDirection="ROW" (when flex-direction: row), the justifyContent attribute works as follows:

<hbox alignItems="START" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="Button" height="2em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="3em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="1.5em"/>
</hbox>

Figure 25. Horizontal Layout with alignItems="START"

<hbox alignItems="CENTER" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="Button" height="2em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="3em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="1.5em"/>
</hbox>

Figure 26. Horizontal Layout with alignItems="CENTER"

<hbox alignItems="END" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="Button" height="2em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="3em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="1.5em"/>
</hbox>

Figure 27. Horizontal Layout with alignItems="END"

<hbox alignItems="STRETCH" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="Button" height="AUTO"/>
    <button text="Button" height="AUTO"/>
    <button text="Button" height="AUTO"/>
</hbox>

Figure 28. Horizontal Layout with alignItems="STRETCH"

<hbox alignItems="BASELINE" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="Button" height="2em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="3em"/>
    <button text="Button" height="1.5em"/>
</hbox>

Figure 29. Horizontal Layout with alignItems="BASELINE"

AlignSelf

The alignSelf attribute corresponds to the align-self CSS property which defines an alignment for individual components inside the container. This individual alignment for the component overrides any alignment set by alignItems.

<vbox alignItems="START">
    <button text="alignSelf=END" alignSelf="END"/>
    <button text="alignSelf=CENTER" alignSelf="CENTER"/>
    <button text="alignSelf=AUTO" alignSelf="AUTO"/>
</vbox>

Figure 30. Vertical Layout with alignItems="START" and different alignSelf for nested components

<hbox alignItems="START" justifyContent="BETWEEN" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="alignSelf=END" alignSelf="END"/>
    <button text="alignSelf=CENTER" alignSelf="CENTER"/>
    <button text="alignSelf=AUTO" alignSelf="AUTO"/>
</hbox>

Figure 31. Horizontal Layout with alignItems="START" and different alignSelf for nested components

Common Layout Mistakes

Common mistake 1. Setting relative size for a component within a container with content-based size

Example of incorrect layout:

<vbox>
    <dataGrid id="usersDataGrid" dataContainer="usersDc"
              width="100%" height="100%">
        <actions/>
        <columns>
            <column property="firstName"/>
            <column property="lastName"/>
            <column property="username"/>
        </columns>
    </dataGrid>
</vbox>

In this example, dataGrid has 100% height, while the default height for vbox is AUTO, i.e. content-based. As a result, dataGrid is collapsed.

Figure 32. Example of relative size for a component within a container with content-based size

Common mistake 2. Not disabling padding for nested vbox containers

Example of incorrect layout:

<layout>
    <genericFilter ...>
        ...
    </genericFilter>

    <vbox width="100%">
        <hbox id="buttonsPanel" classNames="buttons-panel">
            ...
        </hbox>
        <dataGrid id="usersDataGrid" ...>
            ...
        </dataGrid>
    </vbox>
    <hbox>
        ...
    </hbox>
</layout>

In this example, dataGrid and hbox are placed inside a vbox which by default has padding enabled. As a result, components inside vbox are not aligned with the ones outside.

Figure 33. Example of nested Vertical Layout with enabled padding

Common mistake 3. Aligning components with relative size

Example of incorrect layout:

<hbox alignItems="CENTER" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <span text="Span" height="100%"/>
</hbox>

In this example, span has 100% height within hbox container which defines alignItems="CENTER". As a result, text is placed in the top left corner.

Figure 34. Example of aligning components with relative size

Common mistake 4. Stretching components with fixed size

Example of incorrect layout:

<hbox alignItems="STRETCH" padding="true" width="100%" minHeight="10em">
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

In this example, buttons have default height defined in styles. As a result, buttons are not stretched vertically.

Figure 35. Example of stretching components with fixed size

Common mistake 5. Setting size without size unit

Example of incorrect size:

<textField width="400"/>

In this example, textField has no size unit specified. As a result, the size value is ignored, because there is no default size unit.

Tips and Tricks

An example of defining a responsive text field that has fixed size on big screens and 100% width on small ones:

<hbox width="100%">
    <textField width="100%" maxWidth="40em"/>
    <button text="Button"/>
</hbox>

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