Making NavigationRail scrollable

Use case

By default, when a NavigationRailDestination inside a NavigationRail goes out of the viewport (e.g. the window is resized to be less than the destinations), it will overflow and cause the infamous yellow-and-black-striped error to occur. One way to fix this is to make the NavigationRail itself scrollable. Currently, the only way to do this is rather janky.

Error-causing:

Row(
  children: [
    NavigationRail(...),
    ...
  ]
)

The "fix" that makes it scrollable:

Row(
  children: [
    LayoutBuilder(
      builder: (context, constraints) {
        return SingleChildScrollView(
          child: ConstrainedBox(
            constraints: BoxConstraints(
              minHeight: constraints.maxHeight,
            ),
            child: IntrinsicHeight(
              child: NavigationRail(...)
            )
          )
        );
      }
    ),
    ...
  ]
)

This fix is mentioned in this StackOverflow answer and is also used by Flutter Gallery. However, it is janky and cluttered. It even uses an IntrinsicHeight wherein the docs explicitly state that:

In the class constructor:

This class is relatively expensive. Avoid using it where possible.

In the class itself:

This class is relatively expensive, because it adds a speculative layout pass before the final layout phase. Avoid using it where possible. In the worst case, this widget can result in a layout that is O(N²) in the depth of the tree.

I want to avoid using widgets that the docs itself says not to use. However, I cannot find any other way to make it scrollable to avoid the infamous yellow-and-black-striped error.

Proposal

I propose a simple solution to this problem:

Row(
  children: [
    NavigationRail(
      scrollable: true,
      ...
    ),
    ...
  ]
)

Not only does this makes things easier and intuitive, but is also easily customizable and less clutter.

Hi @yivanscreations
Thanks for filing the proposals.

minimal code sample

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() => runApp(const MyApp());

/// This is the main application widget.
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  const MyApp({Key? key}) : super(key: key);

  static const String _title = 'Flutter Code Sample';

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return const MaterialApp(
      title: _title,
      home: MyStatefulWidget(),
    );
  }
}

/// This is the stateful widget that the main application instantiates.
class MyStatefulWidget extends StatefulWidget {
  const MyStatefulWidget({Key? key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  State<MyStatefulWidget> createState() => _MyStatefulWidgetState();
}

/// This is the private State class that goes with MyStatefulWidget.
class _MyStatefulWidgetState extends State<MyStatefulWidget> {
  int _selectedIndex = 0;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      body: Row(
        children: <Widget>[
          NavigationRail(
            
            selectedIndex: _selectedIndex,
            onDestinationSelected: (int index) {
              setState(() {
                _selectedIndex = index;
              });
            },
            labelType: NavigationRailLabelType.selected,
            destinations: const <NavigationRailDestination>[
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.favorite_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.favorite),
                label: Text('First'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.bookmark_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.book),
                label: Text('Second'),
              ),
              NavigationRailDestination(
                icon: Icon(Icons.star_border),
                selectedIcon: Icon(Icons.star),
                label: Text('Third'),
              ),
            ],
          ),
          const VerticalDivider(thickness: 1, width: 1),
          // This is the main content.
          Expanded(
            child: Center(
              child: Text('selectedIndex: $_selectedIndex'),
            ),
          )
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

Assigning this issue to myself will send a PR tonight

Hi, I'm also a web-developer. Just wondering if the proposed scrollable feature would be added any time soon.

This issue is missing a priority label. Please set a priority label when adding the triaged-design label.

Hi. I recently added a PR for this issue. After some research into the previously merged and reverted PR #137415, I decided to reuse it with the "scrollable" feature being optional, so that existing code will not break. Users have to opt-in, by setting the flag.

The PR adds two further flags, leadingAtTop and trailingAtBottom. For a justification, see my comment in the PR.

NavigationRail: optionally scrollable and more configurable (#169421)

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

NavigationRail: optionally scrollable and more configurable (flutter#…

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Making NavigationRail scrollable #89167

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Making NavigationRail scrollable #89167

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TahaTesser commented on Aug 31, 2021

maheshj01 commented on Aug 31, 2021

DaedalusDelta commented on Feb 23, 2023

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