CSS Full Height with divs distributing left space - html

Question

I am building a message box with title, description, and answers.
I have been struggling for days with that, even played with a Codepen, but can't figure to handle this correctly.
I need:
Title to expand to a maximum of 300px before scrolling
Description to expand to a maximum to left space if no answer (or few), distribute space say 80% of space otherwise (I will add a button to hide this space) before scrolling also
Fixed height for message number title
Messages div to expand to a maximum space left
Input area to stay at bottom and able to size up if any user input (again let's say 20% before scrolling?)
Codepen link
<div class="demoContainer">
<div class="page">
<div class="title">
<h1>My awesome title that is so long i will move everything down</h1>
<button>Some stuff to click</button>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="colLeft">
<div class="description">
<h2>Author</h2>
<p>lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumlorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumlorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumlorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumlorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumlorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsumlorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum </p>
</div>
<div class="between">
<p>Answers</p>
</div>
<div class="messages">
<ul>
<li>
toto
</li>
<li>
tAta
</li>
<li>
tAta
tAta
</li>
<li>
tAta
</li>
<li>
tAta
</li>
<li>
tAta
</li>
>
<li>
tAta
</li>
>
<li>
tAta
</li>
>
<li>
tAta
</li>
>
<li>
tAta
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="input">
<textarea placeholder="Input height adapt to size until a maximum"></textarea>
</div>
</div>
<div class="colRight">
<ul>
<li>
some
</li>
<li>
stuff
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="divider"></div>
<div class="page">
<div class="title">
<h1>My awesome short title</h1>
<button>Some stuff to click</button>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="colLeft">
<div class="description">
<h2>Author</h2>
<p>lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum </p>
</div>
<div class="between">
<p>Answers</p>
</div>
<div class="messages">
<ul>
<li>
toto
</li>
<li>
tAta
</li>
<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="input">
<textarea placeholder="Input height adapt to size until a maximum"></textarea>
</div>
</div>
<div class="colRight">
<ul>
<li>
some
</li>
<li>
stuff
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
* {
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.demoContainer {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row;
}
.divider {
width: 8px;
}
.page {
height: 600px;
width: 550px;
background-color: lightgrey;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
overflow: auto;
}
.title {
display: inline-flex;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: center;
max-height: 200px;
}
.title button {
width: 90px;
height: 30px;
}
.row {
display: flex;
/*flex: 1 1 100%;*/
min-height: 0;
height: 100%;
}
.colLeft {
flex: 3 1 auto;
min-height: 0;
height: 100%;
border: 1px solid blue;
display: block;
flex-direction: column;
position: relative;
/*align-items: stretch;
align-content: stretch;*/
}
.description {
border: 1px dashed black;
/*flex: 4 1 100%;*/
max-height: 60%;
overflow: scroll;
}
.between {
border: 1px solid green;
height: 1, 1em;
}
.between>p {
margin: 0;
}
.messages {
border: 1px dashed red;
/*flex: 2 100 auto;*/
overflow: scroll;
}
ul {
max-width: 100%;
}
.input {
width: 100%;
min-height: 1rem;
flex: 1 1 3rem;
display: flex;
border: 1px solid yellow;
position: relative;
bottom: 0;
}
.input>textarea {
width: 100%;
}
.colRight {
flex: 1 1 auto;
border: 1px solid black;
min-width: 150px;
overflow: scroll;
}
The one on the right is a short example of what I would like, but remove <br/> to see the problem.
I tried with display: grid, isplay: block display: flex. I can't seem to find anything satisfying my needs.
My question is: is that even possible? With CSS only?

Answer 1

For everyone wondering, i discovered a few things while digging into css.
First of all is you can set a 100% height on a div to take up the free space if another element is in, but if and only if you set the parent element display: flex; !
With that in mind, it comes easier.
After that, I decided to dive into JS as my problem does not seem to be solvable with CSS only.
I took advantage of the "new" position: sticky; property, and my JS can take care of position it top: 0; or bottom: 0; depending on the scrolling position.
CSS Added :
.stickyBottom{
position: sticky;
bottom: 0;
}
.stickyTop{
position: sticky;
top: 0;
}
JS Code added:
var colLeft = document.getElementsByClassName("messagesInput")[0];
colLeft.onscroll = function(){myFunction()};
// Get the navbar
var between = document.getElementsByClassName("between")[0];
var desc = document.getElementsByClassName("description")[0];
// Get the offset position of the navbar
var sticky = between.offsetTop;
//between.classList.remove("stickyBottom")
function myFunction() {
if (colLeft.scrollTop >= sticky) {
between.classList.remove("stickyBottom")
between.classList.add("stickyTop")
} else {
between.classList.add("stickyBottom")
between.classList.remove("stickyTop");
}
}
It ends up in a way better UX than I initially wanted ! :)
CodePen Link updated accordingly.