Initializing help system before first use

# Layout Rules

Sections, Rows, Columns, and Containers in a VDL view abide by a set of conditional rules.

## Default settings

As mentioned, the Page element in VDL defaults to a fixed width of 1140 pixels: When a Section, Row, or Column is placed on the artboard, it will adopt the default standard settings that can then be edited in the Attributes pane.

## Section Layout

Section (vdl-section) elements default to occupy the full width of the page. When you create multiple Sections within a Page (vdl-page), the Sections will be stacked vertically.

A Section will only permit a Row element to be dropped onto it.

## Row Layout

Row (vdl-row) elements within Sections occupy the full width of a Section, so multiple Row elements in a Section are stacked vertically. A Row element will only permit a Column element to be dropped onto it. Each Row (vdl-row) is proportionally divided into twelve units, which is relevant when assigning a width to a Column.

## Column Layout

Column (vdl-column) elements default to the full width of the parent Row element, so multiple Column elements in a Row are stacked vertically.

This element accepts a `size` attribute which determines the width of the column—the parent Row element is divided into 12 units (one unit with the width of the Row divided by 12.) Columns placed on a row should not have a total width greater than 12. If you have two or more Columns on a row with size attributes defined, any Column on a Row that exceeds the width limit will be wrapped to a new line in the Row.
Important: A column with no size specified will expand to fill the remaining width in a container. Such columns are known as implicitly sized columns, see Fluid Column Resizing later in this section. The Column sizing is applied sequentially as the code is processed, so if there are three columns in a row, and the second column does not have a size value, it will expand to displace the third column onto a new line within the row.
Note: Multiple elements in a single Column are displayed in a vertical stack.
Notice: The Offset attribute on a Column is subtracted from the overall width available in the Column when calculating space on a Row. This means a single row can display without wrapping:

- 12 x 1 unit wide Columns
- 6 x 2 unit wide Columns
- 6 x 1 unit wide columns each with 1 unit Offset

Code editor

The code shows a section containing three child columns.

    <vdl version="5.8">
      <vdl-page>
        <vdl-section>
          <vdl-row>
              <vdl-column size="3">The Left Hand Column occupies one quarter of the page width.</vdl-column>
              <vdl-column size="6">The Center Column occupies one half of the page width</vdl-column>
              <vdl-column size="3">The Right Hand Column occupies one quarter of the page width</vdl-column>
          </vdl-row>
        </vdl-section>
      </vdl-page>
    </vdl>

View Designer

Use the New View wizard to generate a three-column layout—as good practice, the wizard creates three equally sized columns within a row element (the row element, including the columns, is duplicated—delete the second row).

Select the columns individually and edit the Size and Text attributes to replicate the code in the code editor example above.
Figure : 1. Configured column widths in View Designer
This markup renders as follows:
Figure : 2. Rendered column widths

## Container

Container (vdl-container) elements default to the full width of the parent Column or Container element. Elements added to the Container are aligned horizontally.

## Fluid Column Resizing

Column resizing behavior depends on whether its parent section has a fluid or fixed layout. Recall that:

- a Page defaults to a width of 1140px
- a Section defaults to 100% of Page width
- a Row defaults to 100% of Section width

In a Section defined as fluid by the tag `layout=″fluid″`, columns will resize as the browser window resizes, so that a column of Size 3 always occupies one quarter (3/12ths) of the browser width.

In a Section defined as fixed by the tag `layout=″fixed″`, the column widths remain the same when the browser window is resized. Each Column will be 1/4 x 1140px = 285px

If a column does not specify a size:

- if it is the only column in a row it is assigned a size of 12.
- if it is not the only column, it will be made just big enough to hold the widest contained element.

Such columns are known as implicitly sized columns.
Parent Topic Working with Page Layouts and Styling

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