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Html – Left Div Should Scroll if Content Exceeds Right Div's Height

  • I have a layout where two divs (left and right) are side by side using Flexbox. I want the following behavior:
  1. The right div should determine the height of the container based on its content.
  2. The left div should expand to match the height of the right div.
  3. If the left div has more content than the right div, it should scroll, but the right div should never have a scrollbar, since if there is more content in right div the whole container grows in height.

Here is the code Iā€™m using:

.main-container {
  display: flex;
  width: 60%;
  border: 2px solid #333;
  align-items: stretch; /* Ensures both divs stretch to the same height */
}

.left-div, .right-div {
  flex: 1;
  padding: 20px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
}

.left-div {
  background-color: #e3f2fd;
  overflow-y: auto; /* Should scroll if content exceeds right div's height */
}

.right-div {
  background-color: #ffeb3b;
  overflow: hidden; /* No scroll on the right div */
}

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  padding: 0;
}
<div class="main-container">
  <div class="left-div">
    <h3>Left Div (scrolls if content exceeds)</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
      <li>Item 5</li>
      <li>Item 6</li>
      <li>Item 7</li>
      <li>Item 8</li>
      <li>Item 9</li>
      <li>Item 10</li>
      <li>Item 11</li>
      <li>Item 12</li>
      <li>Item 13</li>
      <li>Item 14</li>
      <li>Item 15</li>
  </div>

  <div class="right-div">
    <h3>Right Div</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
      <li>Item 5</li>
      <li>Item 6</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

What I expect

What I am trying to get as output

Thank you šŸ™‚

Tags:

2

Answers


  1. 0

    I tried to solve it with JavaScript. So, the idea is to check the scrollHeight of right div and set the max-height of left div depending on that.

    Also, added two buttons to check if it works as expected.

    window.addEventListener('load', function() {
  adjustHeight();
});

window.addEventListener('resize', function() {
  adjustHeight();
});

document.getElementById('addLeft').addEventListener('click', function() {
  addItemToLeft();
  adjustHeight();
});

document.getElementById('addRight').addEventListener('click', function() {
  addItemToRight();
  adjustHeight();
});

function adjustHeight() {
  const rightDiv = document.querySelector('.right-div');
  const leftDiv = document.querySelector('.left-div');
  
  const rightDivHeight = rightDiv.scrollHeight; 
  
  leftDiv.style.maxHeight = rightDivHeight + 'px';
}

function addItemToLeft() {
  const leftDivUl = document.querySelector('.left-div ul');
  const newItem = document.createElement('li');
  newItem.textContent = `Item ${leftDivUl.children.length + 1}`;
  leftDivUl.appendChild(newItem);
}

function addItemToRight() {
  const rightDivUl = document.querySelector('.right-div ul');
  const newItem = document.createElement('li');
  newItem.textContent = `Item ${rightDivUl.children.length + 1}`;
  rightDivUl.appendChild(newItem);
}
    .main-container {
  display: flex;
  width: 60%;
  border: 2px solid #333;
}

.left-div, .right-div {
  flex: 1;
  padding: 20px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

.left-div {
  background-color: #e3f2fd;
  overflow-y: auto;
}

.right-div {
  background-color: #ffeb3b;
  overflow: hidden;
}

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}

h3 {
  margin-top: 0;
}
    <button id="addLeft">Add Left</button>
<button id="addRight">Add Right</button>

<div class="main-container">
  <div class="left-div">
    <h3>Left Div (scrolls if content exceeds)</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <div class="right-div">
    <h3>Right Div</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
      <li>Item 5</li>
      <li>Item 6</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>
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  2. 0

    Here’s another solution, using a little bit of JS, too.

    window.addEventListener('load', adjustLeftDivHeight);
window.addEventListener('resize', adjustLeftDivHeight);

function adjustLeftDivHeight() {
  const leftDiv = document.querySelector('.left-div');
  const rightDiv = document.querySelector('.right-div');

  // Reset height to auto first, then calculate
  leftDiv.style.height = 'auto';
  const rightDivHeight = rightDiv.offsetHeight;

  leftDiv.style.height = `${rightDivHeight}px`;
}
    .main-container {
  display: flex;
  width: 60%;
  border: 2px solid #333;
}

.left-div {
  flex: 1;
  padding: 20px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  background-color: #e3f2fd;
  overflow-y: auto;
  /* Scroll if content exceeds the height */
}

.right-div {
  flex: 1;
  padding: 20px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  background-color: #ffeb3b;
  overflow: hidden;
  /* No scroll on the right div */
  max-height: none;
  /* Allow the right div to grow with content */
}

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  padding: 0;
}
    <div class="main-container">
  <div class="left-div">
    <h3>Left Div (scrolls if content exceeds)</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
      <li>Item 5</li>
      <li>Item 6</li>
      <li>Item 7</li>
      <li>Item 8</li>
      <li>Item 9</li>
      <li>Item 10</li>
      <li>Item 11</li>
      <li>Item 12</li>
      <li>Item 13</li>
      <li>Item 14</li>
      <li>Item 15</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <div class="right-div">
    <h3>Right Div</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
      <li>Item 5</li>
      <li>Item 6</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>
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