Types of layout

You can construct all kinds of sophisticated UIs for section items/headers by laying out multiple components vertically, horizontally, or through combination of the two.

vertical

In a vertical layout, the item's components flow vertically, from top to bottom.

Example

{
  "$jason": {
    "head": {
      "title": "vertical layout demo"
    },
    "body": {
      "sections": [{
        "items": [
          {
            "type": "vertical",
            "components": [{
              "type": "label",
              "text": "John Doe"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "text": "33"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "text": "A normal guy with a normal name"
            }]
          }
        ]
      }]
    }
  }
}

Above JSON will render into the following view:

vertical layout example

horizontal

In a horizontal layout, the item's components flow horizontally, from left to right.

Example

{
  "$jason": {
    "head": {
      "title": "horizontal layout demo"
    },
    "body": {
      "sections": [{
        "items": [{
          "type": "horizontal",
          "components": [{
            "type": "image",
            "url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/557061751150112768/eMwi4Xz2.jpeg",
            "style": {
              "width": "80"
            }
          }, {
            "type": "label",
            "text": "Ethan",
            "style": { "font": "HelveticaNeue-Bold" }
          }]
        }]
      }]
    }
  }
}

Above JSON will render into the following view:

horizontal layout example

Nested layout

A layout can also contain another layout as one of its components. This way you can create any type of sophisticated layout you want by nesting one layout inside another.

Here's an example:

{
  "$jason": {
    "head": {
      "title": "nested layout demo"
    },
    "body": {
      "sections": [{
        "items": [{
          "type": "horizontal",
          "components": [{
            "type": "image",
            "url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/557061751150112768/eMwi4Xz2.jpeg",
            "style": {
              "width": "80"
            }
          }, {
            "type": "vertical",
            "components": [{
              "type": "label",
              "text": "Ethan",
              "style": { "font": "HelveticaNeue-Bold" }
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "text": "Gliechtenstein"
            }]
          }]
        }]
      }]
    }
  }
}

Above JSON will render into the following view:

nested layout example

Styling a layout

syntax

■ padding

the space surrounding the layout itself, in pixels.

If not specified, the default value is 10.

■ spacing

the space among each immediate children components, in pixels.

■ background

background color code (Example: {"background": "#ff0000"}, {"background": "rgba(0,0,0,0.4)"})

■ z_index

specifies the stack order of the layout, defining whether the layout is displayed on top of another or below. Default is 0. (Example: {"z_index": "-1"}

■ opacity

opacity (between "0" and "1")

■ align

How the children components will be aligned perpendicular to the layout's direction.

  • For vertical layout

    • left: align left
    • center: align center horizontally
    • right: align right

  • For horizontal layout

    • top: align top
    • center: align center
    • bottom: align bottom
    • fill: stretch all children vertically to fit the layout height equally

■ distribution

Describes how the children components should be distributed in relation to one another.

Normally you don't need to use this property, but this comes in handy when you just want child components to automatically stretch to each have the same size.

  • For vertical layout

    • "fill": The child components stretch to fill the layout (default)
    • "equalsize": The child components have the same size. Use this if you didn't specify height for any of them but want them to just expand to fill the layout each with the same height.

  • For horizontal layout

    • "fill": The child components stretch to fill the layout (default)
    • "equalsize": The child components have the same size. Use this if you didn't specify width for any of them but want them to just expand to fill the layout each with the same width.

examples

Example 1. Vertical layout with center align

In case of vertical layout, it describes how the children components should be aligned horizontally.

Below, we see that the vertical layout has "align": "center" style.

{
  "$jason": {
    "head": {
      "title": "center aligned vertical layout"
    },
    "body": {
      "sections": [{
        "items": [{
          "type": "vertical",
          "style": {
            "align": "center"
          },
          "components": [
            {
              "type": "image",
              "url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/557061751150112768/eMwi4Xz2.jpeg",
              "style": {
                "width": "100"
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "label",
              "style": {
                "color": "#000000",
                "background": "#ff0000"
              },
              "text": "John Doe"
            },
            {
              "type": "button",
              "text": "Follow",
              "style": {
                "color": "#ff0000",
                "background": "#000000"
              }
            }
          ]
        }]
      }]
    }
  }
}

This would render into the following view:

center aligned vertical layout

Notice how all components--image, label, and button--are center aligned.

Example 2. Horizontal align with bottom align

In case of horizontal layout, align describes how the children components should be aligned vertically.

{
  "$jason": {
    "head": {
      "title": "bottom aligned horizontal layout"
    },
    "body": {
      "sections": [{
        "items": [{
          "type": "horizontal",
          "style": {
            "align": "bottom"
          },
          "components": [
            {
              "type": "image",
              "url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/557061751150112768/eMwi4Xz2.jpeg",
              "style": {
                "width": "100"
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "label",
              "style": {
                "background": "#000000",
                "color": "#ff0000"
              },
              "text": "John Doe"
            },
            {
              "type": "button",
              "style": {
                "background": "#ff0000",
                "color": "#000000"
              },
              "text": "Follow"
            }
          ]
        }]
      }]
    }
  }
}

Above JSON will render into:

bottom aligned horizontal layout

Notice how all components--image, label, and button--are bottom aligned.

Example 3. Padding and Spacing

{
  "$jason": {
    "head": {
      "title": "Padding and spacing demonstration",
      "styles": {
        "label_class": {
          "background": "#ff0000",
          "padding": "10",
          "color": "#ffffff"
        }
      }
    },
    "body": {
      "style": {
        "background": "#00ff00",
        "border": "#000000"
      },
      "sections": [{
        "items": [
          {
            "type": "vertical",
            "components": [{
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "First row"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "Second row"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "Third row"
            }]
          },
          {
            "type": "vertical",
            "style": {
              "padding": "50"
            },
            "components": [{
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "First row"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "Second row"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "Third row"
            }]
          },
          {
            "type": "vertical",
            "style": {
              "padding": "50",
              "spacing": "10"
            },
            "components": [{
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "First row"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "Second row"
            }, {
              "type": "label",
              "class": "label_class",
              "text": "Third row"
            }]
          }
        ]
      }]
    }
  }
}

Above JSON turns into the following view:


padding and spacing demonstration

★ Here's what's going on:


1. The first row has NO padding and NO spacing values.

As mentioned above, if no padding is specified, the default is 10.

That's why we see the small gap between the red label and the edges.


2. The second row has a padding of 50.

That's why we see a larger gap (50 pixels)


3. The third row has the same padding as #2, but also a spacing of 10.

The spacing attribute defines the space in pixels among child components. That's why we now see 10 pixels in between the red labels.