Truncate text in flex item

Question

I have a header with a left and right side. The left side contains some text which I want to keep on a single line, truncating with ellipsis if needed. However, when I apply white-space: nowrap to it then the whole header goes outside its container. Here's what I mean:

.container {
  width: 300px;
  height: 400px;
  border: 1px solid black;
}

.header {
  height: 80px;
  width: 100%;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: space-between;
  border: 1px solid red;
}

.header-right,
.header-left {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  border: 1px solid blue;
}

.title {
  text-overflow: ellipsis;
  white-space: nowrap;
}

img {
  height: 20px;
  width: 20px;
  margin: 10px;
}

<div class="container">
  <div class="header">
    <div class="header-left">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
      <span class="title">Title: Keep me on a single line</span>
    </div>
    <div class="header-right">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Does anyone know how to keep the title on a single line but truncate it so the header doesn't go outside the bounds?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered May 28 '19 at 20:58

You need to disable the default minimun width by adding min-width:0 and disable the shriking for the images and their container by adding flex-shrink:0; and add overflow:hidden

.container {
  width: 300px;
  height: 400px;
  border: 1px solid black;
}

.header {
  height: 80px;
  width: 100%;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: space-between;
  border: 1px solid red;
}

.header-right,
.header-left {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  border: 1px solid blue;
  min-width:0; /* Added */
}

.title {
  text-overflow: ellipsis;
  white-space: nowrap;
  overflow:hidden; /* Added */
}

img {
  height: 20px;
  width: 20px;
  margin: 10px;
  flex-shrink:0; /* Added */
}

.header-right {
  flex-shrink:0; /* Added */
}

<div class="container">
  <div class="header">
    <div class="header-left">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
      <span class="title">Title: Keep me on a single line</span>
    </div>
    <div class="header-right">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
      <img src="https://image.flaticon.com/icons/png/128/181/181548.png">
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Related:

Why don't flex items shrink past content size? (To understand the min-width)

Why is a flex-child limited to parent size? (To understand the flex-shrink)

Truncate text in flex item

1 Answers1