//! # [Ratatui] Flex example
//! The latest version of this example is available in the [examples] folder in the repository.
//! Please note that the examples are designed to be run against the `main` branch of the Github
//! repository. This means that you may not be able to compile with the latest release version on
//! crates.io, or the one that you have installed locally.
//! See the [examples readme] for more information on finding examples that match the version of the
//! library you are using.
//! [Ratatui]: https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui
//! [examples]: https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui/blob/main/examples
//! [examples readme]: https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui/blob/main/examples/README.md
use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
crossterm::event::{self, Event, KeyCode, KeyEventKind},
Constraint::{self, Fill, Length, Max, Min, Percentage, Ratio},
style::{palette::tailwind, Color, Modifier, Style, Stylize},
block::Title, Block, Paragraph, Scrollbar, ScrollbarOrientation, ScrollbarState,
StatefulWidget, Tabs, Widget,
use strum::{Display, EnumIter, FromRepr, IntoEnumIterator};
fn main() -> Result<()> {
let terminal = ratatui::init();
let app_result = App::default().run(terminal);
const EXAMPLE_DATA: &[(&str, &[Constraint])] = &[
"Min(u16) takes any excess space always",
&[Length(10), Min(10), Max(10), Percentage(10), Ratio(1,10)],
"Fill(u16) takes any excess space always",
&[Length(20), Percentage(20), Ratio(1, 5), Fill(1)],
"Here's all constraints in one line",
&[Length(10), Min(10), Max(10), Percentage(10), Ratio(1,10), Fill(1)],
"Min grows always but also allows Fill to grow",
&[Percentage(50), Fill(1), Fill(2), Min(50)],
"In `Legacy`, the last constraint of lowest priority takes excess space",
&[Length(20), Length(20), Percentage(20)],
("", &[Length(20), Percentage(20), Length(20)]),
("A lowest priority constraint will be broken before a high priority constraint", &[Ratio(1,4), Percentage(20)]),
("`Length` is higher priority than `Percentage`", &[Percentage(20), Length(10)]),
("`Min/Max` is higher priority than `Length`", &[Length(10), Max(20)]),
("", &[Length(100), Min(20)]),
("`Length` is higher priority than `Min/Max`", &[Max(20), Length(10)]),
("", &[Min(20), Length(90)]),
("Fill is the lowest priority and will fill any excess space", &[Fill(1), Ratio(1, 4)]),
("Fill can be used to scale proportionally with other Fill blocks", &[Fill(1), Percentage(20), Fill(2)]),
("", &[Ratio(1, 3), Percentage(20), Ratio(2, 3)]),
("Legacy will stretch the last lowest priority constraint\nStretch will only stretch equal weighted constraints", &[Length(20), Length(15)]),
("", &[Percentage(20), Length(15)]),
("`Fill(u16)` fills up excess space, but is lower priority to spacers.\ni.e. Fill will only have widths in Flex::Stretch and Flex::Legacy", &[Fill(1), Fill(1)]),
("", &[Length(20), Length(20)]),
"When not using `Flex::Stretch` or `Flex::Legacy`,\n`Min(u16)` and `Max(u16)` collapse to their lowest values",
("", &[Min(20), Max(20), Length(20), Length(20)]),
("", &[Fill(0), Fill(0)]),
"`Fill(1)` can be to scale with respect to other `Fill(2)`",
&[Fill(1), Min(10), Max(10), Fill(2)],
"`Fill(0)` collapses if there are other non-zero `Fill(_)`\nconstraints. e.g. `[Fill(0), Fill(0), Fill(1)]`:",
#[derive(Default, Clone, Copy)]
selected_tab: SelectedTab,
#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
constraints: Vec<Constraint>,
/// Tabs for the different layouts
/// Note: the order of the variants will determine the order of the tabs this uses several derive
/// macros from the `strum` crate to make it easier to iterate over the variants.
/// (`FromRepr`,`Display`,`EnumIter`).
#[derive(Default, Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, FromRepr, Display, EnumIter)]
fn run(mut self, mut terminal: DefaultTerminal) -> Result<()> {
// increase the layout cache to account for the number of layout events. This ensures that
// layout is not generally reprocessed on every frame (which would lead to possible janky
// results when there are more than one possible solution to the requested layout). This
// assumes the user changes spacing about a 100 times or so.
let cache_size = EXAMPLE_DATA.len() * SelectedTab::iter().len() * 100;
Layout::init_cache(NonZeroUsize::new(cache_size).unwrap());
while self.is_running() {
terminal.draw(|frame| frame.render_widget(self, frame.area()))?;
fn is_running(self) -> bool {
self.state == AppState::Running
fn handle_events(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
Event::Key(key) if key.kind == KeyEventKind::Press => match key.code {
KeyCode::Char('q') | KeyCode::Esc => self.quit(),
KeyCode::Char('l') | KeyCode::Right => self.next(),
KeyCode::Char('h') | KeyCode::Left => self.previous(),
KeyCode::Char('j') | KeyCode::Down => self.down(),
KeyCode::Char('k') | KeyCode::Up => self.up(),
KeyCode::Char('g') | KeyCode::Home => self.top(),
KeyCode::Char('G') | KeyCode::End => self.bottom(),
KeyCode::Char('+') => self.increment_spacing(),
KeyCode::Char('-') => self.decrement_spacing(),
self.selected_tab = self.selected_tab.next();
self.selected_tab = self.selected_tab.previous();
self.scroll_offset = self.scroll_offset.saturating_sub(1);
self.scroll_offset = self
.min(max_scroll_offset());
self.scroll_offset = max_scroll_offset();
fn increment_spacing(&mut self) {
self.spacing = self.spacing.saturating_add(1);
fn decrement_spacing(&mut self) {
self.spacing = self.spacing.saturating_sub(1);
self.state = AppState::Quit;
// when scrolling, make sure we don't scroll past the last example
fn max_scroll_offset() -> u16 {
.map_or(0, |(desc, _)| get_description_height(desc) + 4)
/// The height of all examples combined
/// Each may or may not have a title so we need to account for that.
fn example_height() -> u16 {
.map(|(desc, _)| get_description_height(desc) + 4)
fn render(self, area: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer) {
let layout = Layout::vertical([Length(3), Length(1), Fill(0)]);
let [tabs, axis, demo] = layout.areas(area);
self.tabs().render(tabs, buf);
let scroll_needed = self.render_demo(demo, buf);
let axis_width = if scroll_needed {
axis.width.saturating_sub(1)
Self::axis(axis_width, self.spacing).render(axis, buf);
fn tabs(self) -> impl Widget {
let tab_titles = SelectedTab::iter().map(SelectedTab::to_tab_title);
.title(Title::from("Flex Layouts ".bold()))
.title(" Use ◄ ► to change tab, ▲ ▼ to scroll, - + to change spacing ");
.highlight_style(Modifier::REVERSED)
.select(self.selected_tab as usize)
/// a bar like `<----- 80 px (gap: 2 px)? ----->`
fn axis(width: u16, spacing: u16) -> impl Widget {
let width = width as usize;
// only show gap when spacing is not zero
let label = if spacing != 0 {
format!("{width} px (gap: {spacing} px)")
let bar_width = width.saturating_sub(2); // we want to `<` and `>` at the ends
let width_bar = format!("<{label:-^bar_width$}>");
Paragraph::new(width_bar.dark_gray()).centered()
/// Render the demo content
/// This function renders the demo content into a separate buffer and then splices the buffer
/// into the main buffer. This is done to make it possible to handle scrolling easily.
/// Returns bool indicating whether scroll was needed
#[allow(clippy::cast_possible_truncation)]
fn render_demo(self, area: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer) -> bool {
// render demo content into a separate buffer so all examples fit we add an extra
// area.height to make sure the last example is fully visible even when the scroll offset is
let height = example_height();
let demo_area = Rect::new(0, 0, area.width, height);
let mut demo_buf = Buffer::empty(demo_area);
let scrollbar_needed = self.scroll_offset != 0 || height > area.height;
let content_area = if scrollbar_needed {
width: demo_area.width - 1,
let mut spacing = self.spacing;
.render(content_area, &mut demo_buf, &mut spacing);
let visible_content = demo_buf
.skip((area.width * self.scroll_offset) as usize)
.take(area.area() as usize);
for (i, cell) in visible_content.enumerate() {
let x = i as u16 % area.width;
let y = i as u16 / area.width;
buf[(area.x + x, area.y + y)] = cell;
let area = area.intersection(buf.area);
let mut state = ScrollbarState::new(max_scroll_offset() as usize)
.position(self.scroll_offset as usize);
Scrollbar::new(ScrollbarOrientation::VerticalRight).render(area, buf, &mut state);
/// Get the previous tab, if there is no previous tab return the current tab.
fn previous(self) -> Self {
let current_index: usize = self as usize;
let previous_index = current_index.saturating_sub(1);
Self::from_repr(previous_index).unwrap_or(self)
/// Get the next tab, if there is no next tab return the current tab.
let current_index = self as usize;
let next_index = current_index.saturating_add(1);
Self::from_repr(next_index).unwrap_or(self)
/// Convert a `SelectedTab` into a `Line` to display it by the `Tabs` widget.
fn to_tab_title(value: Self) -> Line<'static> {
use tailwind::{INDIGO, ORANGE, SKY};
let text = value.to_string();
let color = match value {
Self::Legacy => ORANGE.c400,
Self::Center => SKY.c300,
Self::SpaceAround => INDIGO.c400,
Self::SpaceBetween => INDIGO.c300,
format!(" {text} ").fg(color).bg(Color::Black).into()
impl StatefulWidget for SelectedTab {
fn render(self, area: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer, spacing: &mut Self::State) {
Self::Legacy => Self::render_examples(area, buf, Flex::Legacy, spacing),
Self::Start => Self::render_examples(area, buf, Flex::Start, spacing),
Self::Center => Self::render_examples(area, buf, Flex::Center, spacing),
Self::End => Self::render_examples(area, buf, Flex::End, spacing),
Self::SpaceAround => Self::render_examples(area, buf, Flex::SpaceAround, spacing),
Self::SpaceBetween => Self::render_examples(area, buf, Flex::SpaceBetween, spacing),
fn render_examples(area: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer, flex: Flex, spacing: u16) {
let heights = EXAMPLE_DATA
.map(|(desc, _)| get_description_height(desc) + 4);
let areas = Layout::vertical(heights).flex(Flex::Start).split(area);
for (area, (description, constraints)) in areas.iter().zip(EXAMPLE_DATA.iter()) {
Example::new(constraints, description, flex, spacing).render(*area, buf);
fn new(constraints: &[Constraint], description: &str, flex: Flex, spacing: u16) -> Self {
constraints: constraints.into(),
description: description.into(),
impl Widget for Example {
fn render(self, area: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer) {
let title_height = get_description_height(&self.description);
let layout = Layout::vertical([Length(title_height), Fill(0)]);
let [title, illustrations] = layout.areas(area);
let (blocks, spacers) = Layout::horizontal(&self.constraints)
.split_with_spacers(illustrations);
if !self.description.is_empty() {
.map(|s| format!("// {s}").italic().fg(tailwind::SLATE.c400))
for (block, constraint) in blocks.iter().zip(&self.constraints) {
Self::illustration(*constraint, block.width).render(*block, buf);
for spacer in spacers.iter() {
Self::render_spacer(*spacer, buf);
fn render_spacer(spacer: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer) {
let corners_only = symbols::border::Set {
top_left: line::NORMAL.top_left,
top_right: line::NORMAL.top_right,
bottom_left: line::NORMAL.bottom_left,
bottom_right: line::NORMAL.bottom_right,
.border_set(corners_only)
.border_style(Style::reset().dark_gray())
Paragraph::new(Text::from(vec![
.style(Style::reset().dark_gray())
let width = spacer.width;
let label = if width > 4 {
let text = Text::from(vec![
Line::styled(label, Style::reset().dark_gray()),
.style(Style::reset().dark_gray())
.alignment(Alignment::Center)
fn illustration(constraint: Constraint, width: u16) -> impl Widget {
let main_color = color_for_constraint(constraint);
let fg_color = Color::White;
let title = format!("{constraint}");
let content = format!("{width} px");
let text = format!("{title}\n{content}");
let block = Block::bordered()
.border_set(symbols::border::QUADRANT_OUTSIDE)
.border_style(Style::reset().fg(main_color).reversed())
.style(Style::default().fg(fg_color).bg(main_color));
Paragraph::new(text).centered().block(block)
const fn color_for_constraint(constraint: Constraint) -> Color {
use tailwind::{BLUE, SLATE};
Constraint::Min(_) => BLUE.c900,
Constraint::Max(_) => BLUE.c800,
Constraint::Length(_) => SLATE.c700,
Constraint::Percentage(_) => SLATE.c800,
Constraint::Ratio(_, _) => SLATE.c900,
Constraint::Fill(_) => SLATE.c950,
#[allow(clippy::cast_possible_truncation)]
fn get_description_height(s: &str) -> u16 {
s.split('\n').count() as u16