Flex

A layout container using flexbox. Provides Spectrum dimension values, and supports the gap property to define consistent spacing between items.

Introduction#

The Flex component can be used to layout its children in one dimension with flexbox. Any React Spectrum component can be used as a child, and Flex components can be nested to create more complex layouts.

In addition to the properties widely supported by CSS, React Spectrum also shims the gap property, along with rowGap and columnGap. These properties make it much easier to build layouts with consistent space between each item. The gap can be defined with Spectrum dimension variables to ensure consistency across applications, and allow the layout to adapt to different devices automatically. In addition, these values can be autocompleted in many IDEs for convenience.

All Flex props also support object syntax to define responsive layouts that change at certain breakpoints. See the layout docs for more details.

Examples#

Vertical stack#

This example shows a simple vertical stack, with a gap between each item defined using a Spectrum dimension variable.

<Flex direction="column" width="size-2000" gap="size-100">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" height="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="blue-600" height="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" height="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex direction="column" width="size-2000" gap="size-100">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" height="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="blue-600" height="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" height="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex
  direction="column"
  width="size-2000"
  gap="size-100"
>
  <View
    backgroundColor="celery-600"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="blue-600"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="magenta-600"
    height="size-800"
  />
</Flex>

Horizontal stack#

This example shows a horizontal stack.

<Flex direction="row" height="size-800" gap="size-100">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" width="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="blue-600" width="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" width="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex direction="row" height="size-800" gap="size-100">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" width="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="blue-600" width="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" width="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex
  direction="row"
  height="size-800"
  gap="size-100"
>
  <View
    backgroundColor="celery-600"
    width="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="blue-600"
    width="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="magenta-600"
    width="size-800"
  />
</Flex>

Nesting#

This example shows how you can nest flexboxes to create more complicated layouts. It also uses the flex prop on one of the children to expand it to fill the repaining space.

<Flex direction="column" gap="size-100">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" height="size-800" />
  <Flex direction="row" height="size-3000" gap="size-100">
    <View backgroundColor="indigo-600" width="size-2000" />
    <View backgroundColor="seafoam-600" flex />
  </Flex>
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" height="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex direction="column" gap="size-100">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" height="size-800" />
  <Flex direction="row" height="size-3000" gap="size-100">
    <View backgroundColor="indigo-600" width="size-2000" />
    <View backgroundColor="seafoam-600" flex />
  </Flex>
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" height="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex
  direction="column"
  gap="size-100"
>
  <View
    backgroundColor="celery-600"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <Flex
    direction="row"
    height="size-3000"
    gap="size-100"
  >
    <View
      backgroundColor="indigo-600"
      width="size-2000"
    />
    <View
      backgroundColor="seafoam-600"
      flex
    />
  </Flex>
  <View
    backgroundColor="magenta-600"
    height="size-800"
  />
</Flex>

Wrapping#

This example shows how to enable wrapping of items into multiple rows. Resize your browser window to see the items reflow.

<Flex direction="row" gap="size-100" wrap>
  {colors.map((color) => (
    <View
      key={color}
      backgroundColor={color}
      width="size-800"
      height="size-800"
    />
  ))}
</Flex>

<Flex direction="row" gap="size-100" wrap>
  {colors.map((color) => (
    <View
      key={color}
      backgroundColor={color}
      width="size-800"
      height="size-800"
    />
  ))}
</Flex>

<Flex
  direction="row"
  gap="size-100"
  wrap
>
  {colors.map(
    (color) => (
      <View
        key={color}
        backgroundColor={color}
        width="size-800"
        height="size-800"
      />
    )
  )}
</Flex>

Alignment#

The alignItems prop can be used to align items along the cross axis. When direction is "column", this refers to horizontal alignment, and when direction is "row" it refers to vertical alignment.

This example horizontally centers items in a vertical stack.

<Flex direction="column" gap="size-100" alignItems="center">
  <View backgroundColor="celery-600" width="size-800" height="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="blue-600" width="size-2000" height="size-800" />
  <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" width="size-800" height="size-800" />
</Flex>

<Flex
  direction="column"
  gap="size-100"
  alignItems="center"
>
  <View
    backgroundColor="celery-600"
    width="size-800"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="blue-600"
    width="size-2000"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="magenta-600"
    width="size-800"
    height="size-800"
  />
</Flex>

<Flex
  direction="column"
  gap="size-100"
  alignItems="center"
>
  <View
    backgroundColor="celery-600"
    width="size-800"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="blue-600"
    width="size-2000"
    height="size-800"
  />
  <View
    backgroundColor="magenta-600"
    width="size-800"
    height="size-800"
  />
</Flex>

NOTE: the default value for alignItems is "stretch" according to the CSS spec. This means that if your items do not have a size defined in the cross direction, then they will be stretched to fill the height of the container. This may be undesirable in some cases, e.g. a group of buttons with varying heights. Ensure you set an alignItems value to account for this.

Justification#

The justifyContent prop can be used to align items along the main axis. When direction is "column", this refers to vertical alignment, and when direction is "row" it refers to horizontal alignment.

This example vertically centers the stack of items within the available space defined by a container.

<View height="size-3000" borderWidth="thin" borderColor="dark">
  <Flex direction="column" gap="size-100" justifyContent="center" height="100%">
    <View backgroundColor="celery-600" width="size-800" height="size-800" />
    <View backgroundColor="blue-600" width="size-2000" height="size-800" />
    <View backgroundColor="magenta-600" width="size-800" height="size-800" />
  </Flex>
</View>

<View
  height="size-3000"
  borderWidth="thin"
  borderColor="dark"
>
  <Flex
    direction="column"
    gap="size-100"
    justifyContent="center"
    height="100%"
  >
    <View
      backgroundColor="celery-600"
      width="size-800"
      height="size-800"
    />
    <View
      backgroundColor="blue-600"
      width="size-2000"
      height="size-800"
    />
    <View
      backgroundColor="magenta-600"
      width="size-800"
      height="size-800"
    />
  </Flex>
</View>

<View
  height="size-3000"
  borderWidth="thin"
  borderColor="dark"
>
  <Flex
    direction="column"
    gap="size-100"
    justifyContent="center"
    height="100%"
  >
    <View
      backgroundColor="celery-600"
      width="size-800"
      height="size-800"
    />
    <View
      backgroundColor="blue-600"
      width="size-2000"
      height="size-800"
    />
    <View
      backgroundColor="magenta-600"
      width="size-800"
      height="size-800"
    />
  </Flex>
</View>

Props#