When I reduce the width of my browser window, select
elements within the fieldset
does not reduce in size despite the max-width
command:
<fieldset style="background:blue;"> <select name=countries style="max-width:90%;"> <option value=gs>South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</option> </select> </fieldset>
However, this works perfectly outside fieldset
element. How do I make the select
elements shrink to the max-width
(percentage) within the fieldset?
Note: I have tested both Firefox 12.0 and Google Chrome. I am now sure that it is a cross-browser problem.
Clarification: Please refer to this example and note the difference between the behaviour of a select
element inside a fieldset
and another outside the fieldset
. What I want to achieve is for the select
element within the fieldset
to behave like the one outside the fieldset
element.
The size attribute specifies the number of visible options in a drop-down list. If the value of the size attribute is greater than 1, but lower than the total number of options in the list, the browser will add a scroll bar to indicate that there are more options to view.
Change the maximum width. max-width overrides width , but min-width overrides max-width .
This isn't possible, at least if you only use max-width
(see below for solution). <select>
s are always a little bit tricky to style, as they're interactive content elements and form control elements. As such, they have to follow some implicit rules. For one, you cannot make a select less wide than one of its options when using max-width
. Think of the following scenario:
+------------------------------------+-+ |Another entry |v| +------------------------------------+-+ |Another entry | |Select box, select anything, please | |Another entry | |Another entry | +------------------------------------+-+
Let's say that you want to squeeze this <select>
- what will happen? The select's width will get lesser, until...
+------------------------------------+-+ +-----------------------------------+-+ |Another entry |v| |Another entry |v| +------------------------------------+-+ +-----------------------------------+-+ |Another entry | |Another entry | |Select box, select anything, please |-->|Select box, select anything, please | |Another entry | |Another entry | |Another entry | |Another entry | +------------------------------------+-+ +-----------------------------------+-+ | +---------------------------------------+ v +----------------------------------+-+ +---------------------------------+-+ |Another entry |v| |Another entry |v| +----------------------------------+-+ +---------------------------------+-+ |Another entry | |Another entry | |Select box, select anything, please |-->|Select box, select anything, please| |Another entry | |Another entry | |Another entry | |Another entry | +----------------------------------+-+ +---------------------------------+-+
And then the process will stop, as the <option>
s wouldn't fit anymore. Keep in mind that you can't style <option>s
or at least only a little bit (color, font-variant) without getting some nasty quirks. However, the border-box can be changed, if the select is prepared correctly:
Use a width
value on the select
. Yep, it's easy as that:
<fieldset style="background:blue;"> <select name=countries style="width:100%;max-width:90%;"> <option value=gs>South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</option> </select> </fieldset>
Why does this work? Because the option
will now recognize the width
of the select
correctly and won't force the select
to have a implicit min-width
. Notice that the width
is absurd, as it is more than the max-width
. Most browsers won't care and use the max-width
in this case, as it provides an upper bound.
JSFiddle Demo (works in FF12, Chrome 18, IE9, Opera 11.60)
Wrapper based solution, this won't change the original width:
<fieldset style="background:blue;"> <div style="display:inline-block;max-width:90%;"> <!-- additional wrapper --> <select name=countries style="width:100%"> <option value=gs>South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</option> </select> </div> </fieldset>
JSFiddle Demo (works in browsers listed above)
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With